take my hand, i'll show you everything
by KokoLockhart
Summary: perhaps we're different. but there's no barrier to stop us from falling in love, is there? — a collection of shadikal drabbles/one-shots.
1. Latte

_Characters belong to SEGA._

* * *

 _001\. Latte_

"Gosh, what's with all these prices?!" Rouge huffed, "5.99 for one small latte?! That's ridiculous."

Shadow only just rolled his eyes, cheek buried in one hand as his other held the menu. "You wanted to come here and you knew all the prices were this absurd."

"Hey! It's quality over anything, my friend!" The bat then crossed her arms, a smirk arising her lips. "And besides, there _is_ a reason why we're here anyway..."

The hedgehog caught her stare, and raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"

His question was answered when a new voice piped up into their conversation. "Shadow, Rouge! How may I help you today?"

Shadow stiffened, his grip on the menu loosening as his stomach began to do countless of backflips that he could have thrown up at any given moment. He stared forward, before his eyes slowly travelled over to an orange frame of an echidna.

A uniform. She was wearing a uniform.

She... _worked_ here?

"Tikal!" Rouge greeted her with a smile, pretending to seem surprised that the girl had indeed worked here, "Such a pleasure to see you!"

Shadow had shot a glare to the bat, grumbling lowly as he seemingly went through the menu, his sudden unusual behaviour wanting to be unnoticed.

"Thank you, you too!" Tikal giggled, bringing out a small notepad and pen, "What would you both like to order?"

"I want to order this latte, small, but the price is a slap in the face!" Rouge complained, jabbing her finger on the menu, "Seriously, who comes up with them?!"

"I think so too," Tikal agreed, "But I've had this latte before, and it's actually really good," she smiled, "How about I give you both a discount on it?"

"You'd do that?" Rouge asked, her eyes widening.

She laughed again and nodded. "Of course! You're my friends after all."

"You're an angel, Tikal," Rouge said, smiling, her gaze flickering over to Shadow, "An _angel_."

Shadow's grip on the menu grew tighter.

"It's no problem!" Tikal wrote down their orders, "I'll be right back with your drinks!"

She went off and Rouge turned her head to face Shadow, a smirk of amusement plastering her face. The black hedgehog removed the menu off of his face and laid, almost slammed, it down onto the table.

"Hate. You."

Rouge waved him off. "Oh come, you need this!"

" _Why?_ "

"Because I'm sick of seeing you going lovey-dovey over her from a distance."

Shadow's eye twitched. "I do _not_ do that."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Too."

"Not."

" _Yes_."

" _No_."

"Here we are!" Tikal's voice interrupted their argument. Shadow looked over to see two insulated cups of latte in her hand before she carefully put them down onto the table, "I asked my manager if I could make this order free for you guys, since it's your first time here," she clasped her hands, "She said it was fine!"

"Thank you, sweetie," Rouge said, her hand over the cup, "I don't know where the hell you've come from, but I'm glad I have you."

The echidna smiled bashfully, a blush forming onto her cheeks. "Thank you," she said. She turned to glance at Shadow, who hadn't touched his own cup since, "Shadow?"

Shadow nearly jerked in his seat. A stifle from Rouge was heard and he had to refrain himself from putting on a face.

Tikal was concerned. "Do you not like latte? I can get you something else if you want."

"No," he finally glanced over to her, "It's fine."

Tikal smiled again, nodding before turning her head to Rouge, who had stood up. "Going so soon?"

"Sadly," the bat replied, putting on her jacket, "I've got some errands to run for the rest of the afternoon," she smirked again, eyes locking onto the hedgehog's, "Shadow will still be here though."

"Oh, you will?" Tikal inquired, looking at him. Shadow only threw a scowl at the bat, inwardly wanting to bang his head onto the table.

She just _had_ to, didn't she?

"Yup," Rouge said, walking off with her drink, "I'll see you both later. It was nice talking to you, Tikal!"

"You too, Rouge!" the echidna called back, bidding her a farewell. Once she was out of sight, Tikal paid her attention to Shadow and sat down across from him. "Are you okay, Shadow?"

"Yes," he replied, a little too quickly. But luckily, she didn't question it and nodded.

"I'm asking because your face looks a little red," she said, inspecting him, "I suppose it's quite hot in here."

Well, crap. So much for not supposing to let his guard down.

And no. The weather was totally _not_ the reason why his face was unbelievably red, and he probably looked like a _blasted_ tomato by now.

Oh, Rouge was totally going to pay for this misery. He will give that bat _no mercy_.

"Perhaps," he responded calmly, despite his rigid thoughts, and took a sip of his drink.

Tikal only smiled again. "My shift is actually over now," she checked the time on her wrist watch, "Would you like to go for a walk to cool off?"

Shadow almost spat out his drink. A walk? With her?

To _cool_ off?

No, no, no. He'd actually be _warming up_ rather than cooling off.

Sitting across from her was enough.

But walking with her? Side by side? _In public_?

He'd rather just shoot himself to save the embarrassment.

He averted his eyes to her, seeing that she was waiting for an answer.

"Sure," he told her, shocked to find himself even speaking at this point, "I would like that."

"Excellent!" she beamed, clasping her hands together before standing up, "I'll just go get changed!"

Shadow nodded as she walked off and he let out a small groan, glaring down at his latte. He shook his head and took off the cap, but before he took another sip, he noticed a funny looking shape decorated into his drink. He blinked, taking a closer look at it.

 _A heart_.

If Shadow wasn't already burning, he was now.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 _Aha, I suck at humour._

 _a late birthday gift for my girl, Ru! I hope you liked this, omg._

 _prompts are appreciated, thank you!_


	2. Sick

_Characters belong to SEGA._

* * *

 _002\. Sick_

She sneezed for the umpteenth time that day.

Her eyes were starting to get swollen, her nose was constantly runny. The flesh on her cheeks had gotten worse, and the coldness shot through her skin quickly, making her shiver relentlessly.

"Tikal," she heard her manager call from behind. The echidna turned to face her, a small smile upon her lips.

"Dear, perhaps it's better that you go home," her managed said, a hand on her shoulder.

"N-No!" Tikal spluttered, her eyes widening, "I—I feel fine!"

"Tikal, you're pale," she commented, taking a look at her face, "I'll give you a few days off. And if you're still not better by then, just give me a call, okay?"

Tikal just stared at her manager, unable to reply to that. She meekly nodded, thanking her before going to the back to grab her things. She made sure to button up her coat this time and made herself some coffee on the go. The echidna bid her manager and co-workers a goodbye before heading off outside.

"Do you need a ride home?" her manager called out.

"I can manage!" she called back with a reassuring smile.

She held on her coat tighter as a gust of wind blew heavily across the streets, prompting her to bury her chin into her collar. Tikal's grip on her cup grew tighter, the comforting warmth helping her get past the people.

Once she got home, the echidna stood in front of the door, vision blurry and her headache had seemingly gotten worse due to the long walk and cold weather. Sighing, Tikal fished for the keys in her bag, the sounds of multiple metals ringing into her ears.

Shaking slightly, she put the key into the lock, turning it a few times so that the door could finally unlock.

However, that wasn't the case.

Tikal blinked and tried to push it open, but no avail. Her vision worsened as she pulled the key away to look at it. All she saw were silvers and golds, the colours of the other keys mixed with the one she had just used.

Oh dear.

Using her instinct, she picked out a gold key in hopes that was the one, feeling silly that she couldn't remember what colour the key was for her own house. Tikal turned it into the lock.

Only to realise that wasn't the right one either.

Weakly, she pulled it out again and stared at the blurry batch of keys one more time, trying to locate the correct one in slight panic.

But a hand stopped her activities.

"It's this one."

Tikal snapped her head up to see traces of black and red in sight. The weight of the keys disappeared in her hand as she heard the lock turning again, the sound of the door finally squeaking open.

"Are you all right?" he asked, voice full of concern.

"Y-Yes," she said, already starting to breath heavily, "I-It's nothing..."

She wobbled herself inside, only to have dropped her cup and fall forward.

...

When Tikal opened her eyes, the first she noticed was that she was on a bed, the covers securely over her body. Rubbing them, she sat up slowly, taking another clear look at her surroundings.

A banging throb from her head paused her looking and she whined softly, her hand pressing against it. Her eyes narrowed as she pulled the covers off her and gingerly made her way out the room and down the steps. Rather cautiously, Tikal entered the living room to see Shadow sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. When he felt her presence, his attention faded away from it.

"You should be sleeping," he said, putting the paper down.

"Aren't you suppose to be at work?" Tikal inquired instead, shuffling along and sat next to him.

"I don't think you heard me saying that I'd be finishing early today," Shadow responded, crossing his arms.

Tikal sighed, her hands rubbing her cheeks. "Sorry."

Shadow stared at her for a moment before resting his hand onto her forehead. He squinted. "You're burning."

The echidna wilted faintly. "I-I'll be fine by tomorrow."

"No, you won't be," Shadow glared at her, "And you will not be leaving the house anytime soon."

Tikal's eyes widened. "B-But—"

"That's final," he snapped, pulling his hand away.

Tikal nodded solemnly, seeing that there was no point in protesting back.

"Here," Shadow leaned forward to reach his mug from the coffee table, "It's still warm."

She thanked him and wrapped her hands around the mug, taking a few pleasurable sips. He caressed her face as she did so and stood up.

"What do you want for dinner?" Shadow asked, causing her to look up.

"Anything's fine," she answered with a small laugh, accepting the fact that he was the one cooking tonight.

He nodded, leaning down to kiss her cheek and sauntered off into the kitchen.

Tikal smiled after him, bringing her knees up to her chest as she began to relax and doze off again.

Not after another sneeze though.


	3. Lights out

_Characters belong to SEGA._

* * *

 _003\. Lights out_

Tikal jolted when everything became suddenly dark. At the same time, she hissed when realising that she had cut her hand, dropping the knife and the vegetables all together. With her free hand, the echidna tried to locate the tissues that were, thankfully, nearby where she had occupied herself. Grabbing a few, she clumsily wrapped them around her hand before turning away to find the light switch.

Taking a few cautious and jittery steps, she pressed her thumb onto the switch a couple of times only to find out that the light wasn't switching on.

Well, that was no good.

She poked her head into the hallway to see it was also dark, the living room and upstairs too.

Faint panic started to rise up to Tikal's chest as she slowly made her way out the kitchen, wincing at the slight pain coming from her cut hand.

"Shadow?" she called out nervously, hoping the hedgehog knew of the situation.

"Looks like the power's out."

She shrieked, jumping back and turned around to greet the voice until her eyes recognised the ruby reds staring back. Tikal let out a breath of relief, the beat of her heart slowing down.

"Sorry," Shadow apologised with a low chuckle before flickering on the switch of his flash light, "The power's out so we're gonna have to rely on this for now until it comes back on."

Tikal nodded, pressing the tissues onto her cut fingers anxiously, another wince escaping her lips.

Shadow noticed this. "What happened?" he asked, shining the light onto her bleeding hand that were now soaking through the tissues, "You cut yourself?"

"Y-Yes," she answered, looking down at it, "Accidentally. I panicked..."

"Hold on," he said, giving the flash light to her as he sped upstairs. Tikal waited until he came back down with a first aid kit. He took the flash light from her and guided the echidna into the living room where they sat down onto the couch.

"Give me your hand," Shadow requested and Tikal hesitantly obeyed as he removed the soaked blooded tissues and discarded them into a small bucket. She yelped when he started to press a wet piece of cotton onto her cut fingers, making her resist.

"I know it hurts, but just bear with me," he told her gently dabbing more of the wet cotton. Tikal stopped and sighed softly, a few yelps and winces coming from her as she sat patiently.

After Shadow had gotten rid of most of the bleeding, he carefully wrapped a bandage around her hand, making her smile gently at the action. Once he was done, he put away the kit and held the flash light once again between them.

"Usually it would be the other way around," Tikal said with a small laugh, taking a look at her bandaged hand before glancing back at her partner, "Does this... usually happen?"

"You mean the electricity going out?" He nodded, "Most likely because there's something that needs to be fixed in the network."

"Ah," she nodded as well, "When will it come back?"

"I don't know," Shadow replied glancing down at his wrist watch, "It's random. So it may take a few hours."

"A few hours?" Tikal repeated, her panic arising again.

"Yes," the hedgehog looked over to her, "Why? What's wrong?"

She pulled back, biting her lip as it quivered. "Being surrounded by the dark," the girl nervously played with her dreads and whispered, "It... brings back some bad memories..."

Shadow just stared at her, travelling his eyes down until he caught her injured hand in his. He was giving that look again, she noticed. It was an intense look and when she saw it the first time, it had frightened her somewhat and she didn't understand. Now, she understood and it always touched her heart at how the hedgehog always managed to keep her calm and protected.

"I understand," he brushed her fingers against his lips, an action which made her flustered, "I won't let anything like that happen to you again."

Tikal laughed gently, leaning her head against his chest. "I know."

A knock was heard from the front door, making the both of them pull away. Tikal looked up at Shadow who was just as puzzled.

"Maybe it's the electrician," he said, getting up with the flash light and walked out of the living room. Tikal followed closely behind him.

When Shadow opened the door, he was greeted by a blue hedgehog, his signature grin all over his face.

"Hey, Shadow!" Sonic waved, tilting his head over to the side, "Tikal!"

Tikal came fully into view beside Shadow and kindly greeted back the blue hedgehog. "Hello Sonic, what brings you here?"

"Weeellll, ya see," Sonic scratched the back of his head, "I lost control with this new airplane Tails built me and made a little crash landing near your house..."

"My goodness, are you okay?!" Tikal inquired, immediately taking a look at the speedster's face.

Sonic shook his head. "Oh no! I'm totally fine, I made it outta there before it hit," he laughed nervously, "But, um, I kinda broke some of your electricity cables outside sooo—"

Shadow's eyes quickly twitched. "You _what?"_

"Look dude!" Sonic lifted his hands up in an instant, "I called Tails over and he'll be fixing it in no time! So until then—"

"So _you're_ the one who caused Tikal's injury?" Shadow seethed through his teeth, his demonic glare powering over the blue hedgehog.

"What?!" Sonic yelled in panic, quickly looking over to the echidna's bandaged hand and understood, "Oh man, Tikal I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"And made me lose my six _thousand_ word report that's due in _tomorrow?_ " the black hedgehog cut him off once more, his voice growling with such anger that Tikal sent a pleading look over to her blue friend.

"Huh?" Sonic crossed his arms, "Didn't anyone ever tell you that you're suppose to keep saving your work in case instances like these happen?"

A moment of silence.

"Sonic," Shadow said, surprisingly calm.

"Yeah man?"

"Run."

"Run?"

" _Run._ "

"Gotcha!" Sonic saluted to Tikal before speeding off. Shadow, ignoring the annoying gust from him, wasted no time and sped off after the hedgehog.

Tikal held onto her skirt as the wind disappeared, blinking a couple of times before taking a note of her surroundings. Sighing softly, she shook her head with a small chuckle before picking up the flash light that was dropped, and began making her way inside.

The lights came flickering back on, and caught her by surprise. Confused, she raised her head to see a yellow two-tailed fox giving her a thumbs up.

Tikal giggled, doing the same. "Thank you, Tails!"


	4. For you

_Characters belong to SEGA._

* * *

 _004\. For you_

"You should really be careful next time, Shadow."

"Hmph."

Tikal sighed at her partner's stubbornness, rubbing some of the ointment down his arms. "I'm serious. It could've been worse."

" _Please,_ " the hedgehog scoffed, "If that blue hedgehog didn't get in the way, I would've destroyed that thing easily."

"Sonic was only trying to help," she shook her head, "Besides, he's not in a better position either. He broke an ankle."

"That isn't a surprise, considering he _did_ get in my way," Shadow retorted off with a mutter under his breath.

Once she was done applying the ointment, she bandaged his wrist carefully to avoid stinging him. "What I'm trying to say is, that you're lucky you got help from the others," Tikal looked at him, "I don't even know why you went out in the first place, you already had injuries from a previous battle and you weren't able to move properly in days."

Shadow threw a glare at her. "Are you trying to belittle me?"

"I'm just worried is all," she said, feeling unfazed by it, "You're pushing yourself too far. A little break won't hurt."

"I've been in tougher battles," he crossed his arms, "You don't need to worry about me."

Tikal smiled sadly and touched her forehead against his making their eyes lock, "I can't help but to," she whispered sincerely before pulling away.

"Don't give me that face," Shadow said, his eyes softening, "I don't like it."

"And I don't like seeing you hurt all the time," Tikal responded back gently, "Everyday, I always wonder if you're even coming back home," she placed her hand on top of his, "I know it's your job and all, but everyone needs a break now and then."

"So what do you expect me to do?" he asked sternly, "Just sit back and watch other people get hurt?"

"Don't underestimate our friends, Shadow," Tikal said just as sternly that it made the black hedgehog rethink his choice of words, "They're just as strong as you are."

Shadow had to groan at the comparison.

"My point is," Tikal giggled out, running her fingers down his quills, "You should stop being so selfless and have faith in everyone else."

The hedgehog just looked at her, his usual frown on his face. Tikal's eyes were pleading at him—and honestly, he found it harder and harder to even resist them, much to his own displeasure.

"I'll _try_ to," he grimaced slightly, "Only if it makes you happy..."

The echidna was delighted. "Of course."

"I still don't know how you do that."

"Do what?"

"Making me feel somewhat inferior to you," he responded with a grunt.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked, tilting her head a little.

Shadow shook his head, a small smirk gaining on his lips. "I'm just impressed."

"Well, mister," she teased and poked his nose, "If you've got the time to be impressed, then you've got the time to rest up for the day."

"Are you my mother now?"

"No," Tikal smiled, "But I am your girlfriend, and I'll do whatever it takes to make you fully understand such things called 'friendship'."

He rolled his eyes but held onto her hand, squeezing it. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

The echidna put her arms his neck. "But you're doing it for me."

"That's the only _good_ part."

She laughed, shaking her head before closing the gap between their lips.


	5. Overthinking

_Characters belong to SEGA._

* * *

 _005\. Overthinking_

"The bubbles smell nice," Tikal beamed, enjoying the tropical scent.

Shadow just grunted, his head slumped onto her shoulder.

"You don't like it?" she queried as her eyes averted down towards him. The hedgehog didn't answer that but it was enough for her anyway.

Tikal laughed in amusement. "I'm sorry."

There wasn't much space in the bathtub between them, and their legs tangled with each other's, hers on top of his. Tikal came back from work earlier than Shadow did and before she was about to go upstairs to take a shower, he stepped into the house looking exhausted. It took some convincing but she managed to pull him into the tub, the hedgehog tiredly wanting to resist.

Tikal moved in closer so that their chests were touching. Reaching for the shampoo bottle from the shower caddy, the echidna poured some of it onto her hand before soaking it with the water. Gently lifting Shadow's head up from her shoulder, she began to kneed his quills with her shampoo-laced fingers. She saw his eyes closing halfway and so sensed that he was enjoying it. Tikal laughed before taking a hold of the sprinkler, and then massaged the soap off his hair. Of course, his quills sprung back up within a few seconds.

Putting the sprinkler aside, the echidna left a peck on his lips with a giggle and started to wash her own hair, the favourable peachy smell filling her nose. Shadow watched her—weary, and she noticed this. Giving him a smile, Tikal used the sprinkler again for her own dreads, washing off the coated liquid. She felt his hand touching them after, fingers trailing down.

"Would it be okay if I asked the Commander to give you a week off?" she asked, her hands caressing his cheeks, "It'd be nice for you to catch up on some sleep."

"I don't need it," Shadow muttered, "It's fine. Don't worry."

"Shadow," Tikal whined softly before sighing, "I'm sure he'll understand. Rouge has been saying the same thing."

His eyes squinted. "I can't. Everything I do is important."

"Sleep is also important too, Shadow," she said back, leaning down slightly, "Without it, you wouldn't be able to work properly."

"It's not a priority for me," he stated simply.

The echidna only tilted her head. "It should be a priority for you. Your job isn't easy."

"Exactly, which is why I need to work harder instead of slacking off."

Tikal knew better though and instead locked her stare into his eyes. Shadow kept quiet throughout it before his posture twitched and he grimaced, a groan coming out.

"What's the matter?" Tikal whispered with her face softening.

Shadow looked at her, his expression taking a turn. "I don't want to fail," he confessed lowly, "Not again."

"Are you talking about—"

"Yes," he cut her off, making the girl press her lips together in understanding, "What if the same happened to you? I could never forgive myself then."

"It won't," she said, voice nearly inaudible.

"You don't know that," Shadow almost hastily snapped back but pain was held, "One second and you could be gone. Right in front of my eyes."

Tikal quivered, trying to diminish the graphical thoughts. "You're overthinking."

"I haven't been accepted by everyone yet," he glared down at the water, "There's still groups of people who hate me and would do anything to give me grief," Shadow let out a sudden dark chuckle, "They wouldn't lay a finger on me, of course."

"But they would on me," she finished off for him.

Shadow closed his eyes. "Because they know you refuse to fight. You're a target."

The both of them kept quiet, the sounds of the water splashing due to their little shifting. Tikal pulled back until she was resting on the bottom on the tub again.

"So you're scared?" she asked him faintly.

Shadow slowly opened his eyes and looked across to her. He stared intently before blinking, his lids closing halfway again. "Yes."

She nodded. "I don't want you to push yourself, Shadow," Tikal ignored the frustrated sigh coming out from him, "Even if it's for me. I understand that you've had a trauma before, but you shouldn't exert yourself," she shook her head, voice growing quieter, "I don't want that."

"I'm not gonna lose you to them," Shadow responded, suddenly taking a hold of her hand, "I can't let that happen. Ever."

Tikal looked down at their hands, warmth in her heart. "You won't lose me."

"I won't," he kissed her fingers, lips brushing against the water drops, "I can't."

She giggled before going to wrap her arms around his neck. "Stop underestimating us echidnas."

"I've already learned that," the hedgehog chuckled out, "When the Doctor tried to invade Angel Island to take the Master Emerald, Knuckles was _not_ having it."

They shared a small laugh and Shadow pressed his lips onto her forehead.

"Thank you," he murmured, trailing a few more soft kisses down on her cheeks and neck.

"It's okay," Tikal realised that his eyes were starting to droop, "Let's finish up, hm?"

He mumbled out a response as they washed up some more and got out of the bathtub.

Sitting on their bed, Tikal helped her partner dry off his quills and then laid him down onto the pillows. Shadow's eyes had completely shut and she placed a sweet kiss on his lips. Before she got up however, the echidna's attention went to his phone that was left on the desk. Leaning over to get it, Tikal noticed the alarm was set to '5:00am'. She gave a quick side glance towards the sleeping hedgehog and then looked back at his phone, slowly tapping the alarm off.

Tikal got dressed and pulled herself further into the bed, placed Shadow's head on her lap, and ran her fingers down his hair with a smile.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 _yes they're in a bathtub, naked af. and i can't write lemons BECAUSE I SUCK AND SO DOES THIS PIECE. only because i was all like "oh mah god i need to update I NEED TO KEEP THIS SHIP STRONG!"_

 _more to come!_


	6. Crystal

_Characters belong to SEGA. Except for my OC._

* * *

 _006\. Crystal_

It was a peaceful and quiet afternoon. No paperwork to be done, no missions to be taken care of, and certainly none of the pointless and long meetings that he'd have to go to just to hear people reading out documents. It was all a rinse, wash and repeat process in his head, truly.

As usual, Shadow was in the living room sitting on the coach, a newspaper held in front of his face. Unfortunately, the same old, 'Sonic saved this' and 'Sonic saved that' was printed and had irked him to no end, causing the black hedgehog to roll his eyes and flick through the next page where there was more worthy things to pay attention to.

It was then he felt a shuffle against the paper and a head poked out under it, just in between his legs. Shadow's eyes averted down to an infant giggling at him, her blue eyes looking at his own with a smile.

"Papa," she said and struggled to climb onto him.

Shadow put his newspaper away and picked the little black red-streaked hedgehog up, placing her onto his lap.

"What's the matter, Crystal?" he asked as he looked down at the empty bottle she was holding, "You want more milk?"

Crystal poked her tongue out against her lips and nodded, bouncing up and down in eager. With a small smile, Shadow picked her up into the kitchen. He placed Crystal onto the countertop and started to make the milk. He squirted a little amount on his palm to make sure it wasn't too hot or cold and held it out to his daughter. With both hands, Crystal took the bottle rather quickly and began to drink it. Shadow made sure she was stayed put before he went over to the sink to wash off his mug.

Hearing Crystal whine made him stop what he was doing and turn around. Turning the faucet off from behind, Shadow stood front of her as she took the bottle out of her mouth, tears forming underneath the little hedgehog's eyes.

He wiped off some of the milk stains from her mouth. "What's wrong?"

"Mama," she whined as her lips formed a pout. Crystal sobbed as she rubbed her eyes, "Want mama."

"Mama will be home soon," he said and lifted her off the countertop, "She just had to go somewhere."

Crystal looked at him with a hopeful look and smiled again when Shadow kissed her cheek, causing the infant to giggle and kiss him back on the nose. He smiled and carried her into the living room again, where a yawn was heard.

"Sleepy?" he queried when they sat down. Crystal let out another long yawn and snuggled into his chest and after a few seconds, light breathing followed. Shadow sighed in relief, leaning his head back against the cushions before he also felt his eyes closing.

Tikal came home shortly after and found the two asleep on the couch. Finding the sight adorable, she covered the both of them up with a blanket, leaving a kiss on their foreheads and walked off into the kitchen to start on dinner.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 _LMAO, yes. PAPA SHADOW. I loved writing this omg, tell me if you want more of these family kinda stuff!_

 _Thank you to Ruu for the name suggestion!_


	7. Undeniable

_Characters belong to SEGA._

* * *

 _007\. Undeniable_

The gymnasium was filled with various noises - the squeaking of shoes on the floor, the sound of the ball every time it bounced and hit the ground, and the overwhelmingly loud shouts and cheers.

Leaving the scene of the game was nice, though. Not that she wasn't enjoying it, she was. But some quiet time for herself felt good. When she closed the heavy door behind her, the sounds were immediately muffled. It was never completely silent in such a place, but compared to the stands around the main stage, the corridors felt eerily quiet. She was able to hear her own footsteps echoing down the hall, and even her own breathing.

For a moment, she was at peace. However, she was supposed to be the only one wandering around at a time like this. Everyone else was either watching a game or playing one, so another person's footsteps approaching steadily startled her.

But unfortunately for them, she knew. She knew all too well whose footsteps those belonged to. And without any of the hesitation she had been feeling throughout the game, she began to walk faster.

"Where are you going," his voice never failed to send a shiver down her spine, "The game hasn't even finished yet."

Of course she ignored him and continued on her way. She wanted to see him play for a bit, that was all, and then leave. She didn't want to see him upfront in person. That was the last thing on her mind.

"So you're just running away again, huh?"

Tikal wasn't running away and she knew by the irritation in his voice, that she didn't want to respond to it. But for some reason, she took another step and then two steps, and then—whispering spitefully to herself, she halted. Perhaps she was going to talk to him this time, to get rid of this problem forever. So she turned around to face him. Blue and red irises locked and she hesitated, but managed to snap out of it.

"I'm not running," she said firmly, however her composure and jitters said otherwise.

"Wow, you're _actually_ talking to me," Shadow suddenly snapped at her, a sarcastic tone erupting, "Who would've thought, even after _two years_ of avoiding me."

"I wasn't avoiding you," Tikal almost felt like firing back but thought better of herself, "I-I just needed some space."

"You ignored all of my text messages and phone calls," he deadpanned as he glared at her, "You were avoiding me."

Feeling deflated, her mouth quivered anxiously and she turned her heel completely, walking off again.

She heard his footsteps once more and she tried to make a run for it, but he was too fast — _he was always too fast_. He gripped onto her wrist and spun her around to face him.

"Why won't you talk to me?" Shadow asked with frustration, and if she wasn't mistaken, he sounded hurt.

"Let go," Tikal demanded softly.

He squinted. "Say it."

She knew the answer he wanted. The echidna opened her mouth, but closed it immediately. Her throat became dry, the lump ceasing to go away. She looked up at him, seeing that the hedgehog was staring down at her intently, an expression of desperation wetting his face.

"I couldn't handle it," she confessed and averted her eyes down, "People made comments about me."

Shadow stalled. "What comments?"

"Threats," Tikal replied with a stutter, and exhaled the breath she was keeping in, "They said I wasn't right for you."

She recalled several times on social media where she had messages from girls she didn't even know, telling her that he would dump her sooner or later. Tikal, not being used to such vile hatred, tried to ignore it as much as she could. At school, it was even worse. Whenever she was not with Shadow or her friends, she'd get picked on and get called names. Of course, she kept quiet and had not told them.

"Then why didn't you say anything about it?" the hedgehog questioned, his grip getting tighter, "Instead, you broke up with me and then suddenly announce you're leaving the next day."

She blinked, holding back her emotions. "A-Amy and Rouge knew," she saw his eyes widen, a flash of hurt peaked through them, "But I told them not to tell anybody."

"Why?"

"I was afraid to get in the way," she used her free hand to wipe away a tear, "And my mother wanted to move out of town, so I was going to leave one way or another."

Shadow didn't seem too pleased, in fact, he looked more annoyed. "Didn't you ever sit down and think that I would've understood your situation if you told me? I could've helped you."

"You had a reputation, Shadow," she said, his name rolling out of her mouth as if it was foreign, "And you were already under so much stress with basketball," Tikal finally looked at him in the eye, "I didn't want to pile more weight onto that."

"You make it seem as if you were inferior. You weren't," Shadow stated, "And you always came first."

"And felt as if I was ruining your image," the echidna told him as his grip loosened, "That was the problem, the attention we were attracting was maybe good for you but not for me."

By now, her heartbeat went relatively faster. She was surprised that she managed to stay put without resisting. But she needed and wanted to go, _now_.

"That's a stupid reason," Shadow sucked in his teeth, "If you thought for a second that you were sabotaging my "image" then you're wrong," he closed his eyes, "Those people were just jealous and took advantage of you because they knew you wouldn't fight back."

"I'm sorry," her mouth slipped, causing Shadow to snap open his eyes, "For being selfish," she didn't bother drying off the tears this time, "I just thought it was the best option," she then said inaudibly, "Clearly it wasn't."

He stared at her for a brief moment and sighed longingly, gradually wiping off her face. The hedgehog changed the subject. "Why did you even come here then?"

She blushed, trying to come up with a smart answer. The duration of her doing that of course made the reason already obvious.

"To see the game, that's all," Tikal replied rather simply, taking a spare glance at him.

Shadow didn't buy it.

Because he could always read her.

And it was _frustrating_.

"It's more than that," he suddenly whispered, reaching for her hand again. She made no effort to move back and let him lean closer to her face. Maybe because she actually did miss him, maybe because she actually just came here to see him. Maybe, just maybe, because she actually wanted to kiss him.

However, she pulled away as her fear and anxiety spiked up again. "Y-You should get back," she spluttered, refusing to make eye contact.

When she started walking away again, there was no protest and no footsteps chasing after her. She slowly counted to ten and concentrated on her breath once more, so that when she went out of the building, her heartbeat had slowed back down to its normal pace.

...

When the final game arrived, she didn't want to go. Not after that day. However and unfortunately, she was dragged by Amy who wanted her to at least have a good time for once. The pink hedgehog made it seem as if having a depressed day was an everyday thing for her, but that wasn't the case. The case was that, she was going to see Shadow again and either, it was going to be really awkward or he was simply going to ignore her as if nothing had ever happened.

Shadow didn't even look at her, too busy focused on warming up with his teammates. Even when random girls cheered for their team, they all looked over and waved at them, which resulted in very enthusiastic shouts and some ear-splitting squeals.

It didn't make any sense, but something about it was irking her. He hadn't even looked at her once, as if he wasn't even aware that she was right there. This was not about not looking at her because she had left him without saying a goodbye; this was him not looking at her because he really didn't care.

Okay, so it hurt. But this was probably him giving her the cold and ignoring treatment she had done so in the last two years. After all, he was about to kiss her before she mildly rejected it and pulled away, walking off.

It had hit Tikal after all that time, he still had feelings for her and vice versa. However, it couldn't be the case anymore as he didn't spare a glance at her when he was looking her way. Perhaps he had given up and moved on, something she couldn't blame him for.

She knew she immediately needed to snap out of this weird sudden infatuation, but focusing on the game didn't exactly help. Of course, as weird as it sounded, she tried to read a few pages of her book but it wasn't enough of an occupation to actually distract her, and well, he was in the game as well, so she couldn't help but watch him.

Shadow was flawless on court, incredible at blocking and dribbling the ball to the net. He was known to be one of the most skilled and intelligent players amongst the team, which wasn't a surprise really. He had always tagged her along when he wanted to practice alone, and she'd cheer for him every time he scored a hoop.

He knew exactly how to motivate his team, how to make them work well together, and how to bring out the very best of everyone. He was one-hundred percent focused at all times, and wouldn't even let himself get distracted for a mere second.

Now that she had rejected him like that, it was too late for a change of mind, and by the end of the game, she had almost convinced herself that it was for the better anyway. They won and she had almost forgot about Shadow the Hedgehog when Amy was cheering and excited about planning a celebration party for all of them. Tikal excused herself out of the crowded area and when she trailed her eyes over, he suddenly, _finally_ , looked at her. Even though it was just a brief glance.

...

Whilst leaving, Tikal offered to run some errands again. And no, it wasn't because after that small eye contact, she absolutely positively wanted to bump into Shadow again. Though, she wouldn't mind if that were to happen.

It was woman's intuition that she actually ended up right where he was. He was talking to Sonic, who looked exhausted as he was. They seemed to have washed up as she realised their quills were drooping with water as well as having towels around their necks.

She hated spying, but their conversation had seemed to cut short when Amy, out of nowhere, hugged Sonic. The blue hedgehog was caught by surprise as she almost toppled over him. She congratulated the both of them and immediately tugged her blue boyfriend, still beaming about doing the celebration party. Sonic looked back at his teammate as he gave off an awkward farewell, a sweat drop forming before letting the girl drag him out the hallway.

Shadow stood there, shaking his head and rubbed off the remaining droplets with his towel.

For a moment, she hesitated. Tikal was still standing hidden behind the next corner, and he hadn't spotted her yet. Maybe she should just turn around and leave again since there probably wasn't anything to say anyway, but before she could make her decision—

"Tikal."

 _—He caught her._

Tikal yelped and flinched back as she clutched onto her shoulder bag. Her legs seemed to do the work for her as she hastily turned around and fruitlessly tried to make her way back. But he grabbed her arm from behind and before she knew it, she was pinned against the wall.

Shadow was standing right in front of her, and their faces were not even thirty centimetres away from each other. His gaze was intense. One side of her told her that she should run away, but on the other side, she was unable to even move.

"I didn't think eavesdropping was your thing," he whispered, giving her goosebumps.

"Y-You're too close," she replied breathlessly, feeling her bag drop carelessly down to the floor.

She wasn't able to directly look him in the eyes for more than a few seconds, but she didn't really know where else she was supposed to look at, so she felt her eyes go back and forth between his intense stare and his lips more or less involuntarily. With this little distance between them, she was even able to smell him, his shampoo or cologne - whatever it was, and it was almost making her dizzy.

"You don't seem to mind it," he murmured and arched an eyebrow as he came ever closer, "If it's bothering you, why don't you just shove me away?"

His inquiry made her feel cornered and pressured and she didn't even have the ability to breathe anymore, let alone think.

"Or," his hands began crawling down her waist, "Is it because you don't want to?"

Her heart was beating fast against her ribcage, and she was sure that her whole face and neck all the way up to the tips of her ears were burning crimson red.

She didn't say anything and just raised one hand against his chest, wanting to push him away. But as he came closer, their foreheads touched and she was lost. Shadow smirked, closing his eyes as he leaned further down. There was no power behind her hand and she felt the tip of the hedgehog's nose brushing lightly against hers.

His movements were incredibly gentle and almost timid, everything felt as if it was happening in slow motion. His thumb brushed softly on her lower lip before he cupped her cheek with his hand.

The butterflies in her stomach had turned into something else, something desperate, something _hungry_. But she didn't want to seem so needy and let the anticipation slowly kill her. Though, she used her stronger hand to his neck to pull him down further. His skin was soft, and so was his hair in which she buried her fingers in his quills, lightly grazing against his scalp.

The action made him finally lean down to erase the tiny gap. It was a short and chaste kiss, just a simple press of lips against lips, but they were incredibly tender and warm as well, just like she remembered they were. She had no time to catch her breath though, as he immediately pulled her into another one.

Tikal felt his lips move against hers slowly at first, but the pace sped up quickly, and he carefully sucked in her lower lip between his teeth and nibbled on it, making her gasp involuntarily. The heat shot to her cheeks and she wanted to hide out of embarrassment, but there wasn't even any time to dwell on it since she was already overwhelmed by the new sensations.

And then suddenly, Shadow removed his hand from her cheek and drew back completely. Tikal mumbled out a quiet whine, missing the touch and the warmth and instinctively followed his movement since she didn't want this to end so soon, but Shadow apparently didn't plan on stopping either. He only adjusted their position, and she felt her legs being spread just far enough that he was able to slide one of his knees between them, making it possible for them to get even closer to each other.

With this change, his whole body was now pressed against hers, and it became unbearably hot. It wasn't only the literal heat, but also that every bit of her skin started to tingle once it was touched by him and that the warmth that had pooled in her stomach started to spread through her whole body. They were as close as possible considering they were still leaning against a wall in some corridor, but she felt like she needed to pull him even closer and she did.

She was so into it that she unconsciously opened her mouth a tad, and without warning, Shadow slid his tongue in. Tikal squeaked, not used to the new feeling and tried to squirm past it, but he was stronger and held her tightly, continuing his administrations. Their tongues danced, her own clumsily trying to keep up with his.

They pulled away, Tikal trying to catch her breath as she exhaled deeply. Her face was flushed and it was beyond the point of embarrassment by now. Shadow, dishevelled, began to trail kisses along her palm and then her wrist. She glanced over when he did that and after a while, she stopped him by putting her hand over his mouth. He stared at her, blank, before kissing her hand.

Yelping again, she drew back her hand and looked down. "C-Congratulations..."

He pulled away slightly, taking a hold of her hand in the process. "Thanks."

She stared at their hands before hesitantly intertwining them, which he was able to reciprocate and squeeze them together.

Tikal bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

Shadow gently lifted her head up, and the tears that she had a hard time holding in, finally fell down her eyes. "It's fine..."

She looked at him, eyes becoming puffy before she sniffed and buried her head onto his shoulder. "I'm really sorry."

"I know."

She pulled back. "You don't understand—"

"I do."

"But—"

"Just," he cut her off, brushing his thumb against her lips again, his eyes half-lidded, "Just be quiet, Tikal."

Tikal stalled for a moment, staring into his ruby irises once again. Feeling jittery, she nodded as he pulled her into a hug.

...

The sound of the doorbell ringing caught her attention the next afternoon. Tikal paused in making her coffee and lifted her head up to see the time. Blinking twice, she made her way towards the front door and cautiously opened it.

And she was taken aback by the sight.

Shadow was standing there, nicely dressed, holding a bouquet of roses.

"Hi," he greeted her, breaking the silence. He brought out his arm, showcasing the bouquet in front of her to take.

Tikal, still seeming to be surprised by his sudden appearance, took the roses with a timid nod. "Thank you," she stepped back and put them into an empty vase before turning back to him, "Would you like to come in?"

"I want to take you out," Shadow simply stated, squishing down her question, "No objections."

Her eyes widened at his forwardness and she couldn't fight back the blush dusting on her cheeks this time. "O-Okay."

Just when she was about to turn to get dressed, he stopped her by grabbing the both of her hands.

"Don't worry," he said lowly, lips inches away from hers, "We'll do it right this time."

Within those words, she felt comfort and warmth, a sense of pride and protection. All those characteristics that had fit him perfectly like a puzzle. And she suddenly remembered why she fell for him.

She smiled, staring right into his eyes. "We will."

Upon hearing that and seeing her face lit up into happiness he's been desperately wanting to see, he smiled back before swiftly stealing her lips into a kiss.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 _I KNOW, I KNOW. JUST KILL ME FOR NOT UPDATING IN LIKE A MONTH BECAUSE I SUCK AND THIS SUCKS TOO, OML._

 _truthfully, i just wanted to have an excuse to create a hot kissing scene for them and i feel like it's still shitty. and the whole concept is just like "wtf is this?" i know, im dumb af. i suck at creating AUs and doing romance in general tbh. but i gotta keep the otp alive, ofc._

 _Thanks for reading!_


	8. Crush

_Characters belong to SEGA._

* * *

 _008\. Crush_

There was a hint of joy in him when going to work after classes.

However, he was Shadow the Hedgehog. There wasn't supposed to be any joy in working unless you loved your job that much. That wasn't to say he didn't, he did. Working in a library meant people were quiet, wouldn't dare to disturb anyone unless questions were asked and everyone to read and write peacefully.

One of the perks was that there was a coffee shop built into it. So whenever he was on his break, he'd go there to get his drink and whip out a book he'd be currently reading. Call him old fashioned, but he'd rather do something useful for himself than slacking off.

On his late shift, he was at the front desk and was sat down on the computer, organising the list of the returned and borrowed books.

"Excuse me?"

A soft voice interrupted him and immediately his concentration vanished. He inwardly let out a gruff before standing up to help the person. When he turned around however, all his thoughts about the unfinished work vanished when his eyes locked onto a newcomer.

Her smile was radiant. "Sorry for disturbing you."

Shadow practically stood there like an idiot as he continued to stare at the girl in front of him, feeling completely taken aback. When he realised that he was probably looking stupid, he shook his head and cleared his throat. "Can I help you?"

She didn't question his spacing out, thankfully. "Could you show me where you keep the fantasy novels?" she sheepishly held onto a leaflet, "I'm new to this place."

He didn't know why he asked this, he didn't know what instinct caused him to do it, but he did it anyway. "Would you like a guide around here?" Usually, he wouldn't normally do this role for that was another person's job. But it was an optional choice for him and he never considered to take it.

Well, until now.

She seemed surprised by his request and wanted to protest. "I-I don't want to take much of your time—"

"It's fine," he interjected, causing her sentence to cut off. Shadow walked around the front and looked at her once more before motioning to come along. She obediently followed him as she clutched her bag tightly around her shoulder.

The hedgehog gave her a miniature tour around the library, simply showing her where the returned books went, where different genres and fictions were placed and a machine which made it easier for people to find their books.

He suddenly felt nervous. Okay, so he was showing a stranger around the library. Big deal. Whatever. But why did he even bother? He could've easily sent her off to one of his co-workers.

 _Someone's in love._

Immediately, he snapped out of the sudden infatuation. The thought of love at first sight was ridiculous. How could anyone fall in love with someone who they don't even know?

 _It's possible._

"Shut up," he hissed at his conscious before stopping at the requested book section. Slowly turning his head to the orange echidna, he gestured his hand over to the books. "Here."

Her face brightened. "Thank you!" she said, clasping her hands and looked over to him, "Uh, Mister..."

"Shadow," he said with a somewhat hesitant nod, "Just Shadow's fine."

She smiled and stretched out her hand. "Tikal."

Shadow trailed his eyes down at it before shaking it. "...Nice to meet you."

 _Told you._

He grunted and walked off, leaving the girl to look around.

...

The next day Shadow walked around the building with a cart of returned books, lighting a red scan over them to make sure they went back correctly.

"Shadow?"

He froze at the time when he was putting a book back into its shelf. He shifted his attention to the owner of the familiar voice.

Tikal smiled bashfully, fiddling with the ends of her skirt. "Could you come with me for a moment?"

Shadow blinked before nodding, walking around his cart to follow the echidna into another aisle.

"I-I can't reach it," she said, pointing and Shadow followed her finger to a book with a purple spine, "And there isn't a stool nearby..."

Since he was taller than her, he pulled the book out with no problem and gave it to her.

"Thank you," she took the book gingerly, feeling embarrassed, "I couldn't find anybody around so I apologise for interrupting you."

He shook his head. "It's fine," she was too caring for his own good, "I'll make sure a stool is put here next time."

Her lips curled into that innocent smile again as she thanked him and walked off. Shadow's eyes longingly stared after her, the feeling of what seemed to be like butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

Crap. Was this what _it_ felt like?

Of course he didn't want to say what 'it' was, for he was too stubborn. But now that was the case, he had to do something other than be a lovesick fool.

...

On Friday, he was becoming impatient. Shadow had a lot of patience but today? No. He was practically banging his knee underneath the table from time to time. He wanted class to be over, which was a surprise, because he loved biology. But none of the notes he was writing down was going into his head.

The only thing in his head was Tikal.

He didn't even have a shift today, but he still wanted to see her. He wanted to see that smile, hear her soft voice, get lost into those blue eyes and—

"Duuuude, stop daydreaming and help me out here!"

Shadow paused his thoughts and paid attention to the waving hand in front of his face. With a groan, he put his pen down and looked across to the blue hedgehog. "What is it?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that was easy. Usually I'd have to annoy you so you could help me," he crossed his arms, his finger underneath his chin, "Hmm, something's up."

The black hedgehog didn't shift the look on his face, however there was a sense of hesitation piling up in his stomach and he hoped to God that the lecturer would dismiss them anytime from now.

"If you don't want help, then stop wasting my time," Shadow said, going back to reading his notes.

The other rolled his eyes. "Whatever. After this, I'm gonna go collect notes from Tikal and study with Amy."

The sound of her name made him snap his head up, his mind fading away from his work. "Tikal?"

Sonic shrugged, tapping away on his phone. "Yeah."

Shadow pressed on. "You know her?"

Hearing the curiosity in his voice, Sonic looked up at Shadow with suspicion. "Uh, yeah. She's in my Literature class," he paused, blinking at the other hedgehog, "Why?"

"Nothing," Shadow said immediately and uttered a curse when he realised how nervous he sounded.

The blue blur didn't say anything. Instead, there was a somewhat staring competition between the two hedgehogs. Shadow felt uncomfortable. Sonic never intimidated him in the least. However, he unfortunately seemed to be catching on. And that was never a good sign.

Sonic finally spoke. "Do you like—"

"Don't say it," Shadow cut him off, regaining his glare.

His eyes widened. "Holy—"

The lecturer dismissed the class.

In a flash, Shadow quickly packed up his things and walked out.

Then he forgot that Sonic was much like him, so the blue hedgehog had no problem with catching up. "You like Tikal?"

He looked around before he stopped walking. Shadow turned to face Sonic, giving up on his guard. "Is that a crime?"

The other smirked. "I'm just surprised is all," Sonic said as he looked up at the ceiling, "Tikal, huh? Wonder what made you like her," he stared back at him, "I mean, you're impossible to talk to and you're grumpy as hell all the time and—"

"Okay, I'd rather not have this conversation with _you_ of all people," Shadow said and began to walk off again.

"Wait!" Sonic sped up and blocked him from going any further, "Are you gonna ask her out?"

"I've only just met her a few days ago in the library," Shadow shook his head, "That would be weird."

"Yeah well," Sonic rolled his eyes, "Stop being so anti-social and get to know her better."

He huffed. "Whatever."

"Hey, I'm giving you bro to bro advice," the blue hedgehog put his arm around his shoulder and grinned, "The ladies love it when a guy makes the first move."

"And I'm suppose to be taking advice from someone who took his girlfriend to a chilli dog stand on the first date," Shadow said dryly as he shrugged off his arm, "Real smooth."

"Shut up!" Sonic barked, feeling heavily insulted, "Amy loves eating them too ya know!"

Shadow only just rolled his eyes as they continued to walk out of the campus.

Someone called them. "Guys!"

The hedgehogs turned around to see a pink hedgehog waving at them, gesturing to come over.

"Hey Ames!" Sonic grinned as they did so.

Shadow's walking became relatively slower when he noticed an orange frame behind Amy. From the corner of his eye, he could see Sonic just smirking, confirming his suspicions as to who it was.

Amy hugged Sonic for a brief moment before pulling away. "How was class?"

"Eh, it was okay," Sonic scratched the back of his head and turned his attention to the orange echidna, "Hey Tikal! Do you have the notes?"

Tikal stopped rummaging through her bag on the bench as she looked over. However her eyesight stopped on Shadow, making him stiffen. He saw her eyes widen and really, all the black hedgehog could do was look away.

Little did he know she was smiling though.

"I do," Tikal pulled out pieces of slightly crinkled up paper and handed it over to her friend, "I left the rest at my dorm, but I could email them to you."

"It's no problem, thanks!" Sonic took the notes and shuffled them into his bag before noticing the situation, "Hey uh, Amy? You wanna come to my dorm and study?"

 _Damn that hog._

Amy seemed to be oblivious to it and nodded. "Sure!" she went to Tikal, giving her a hug, "I'll see you on Monday," Tikal nodded with another smile. The pink hedgehog sent a farewell to Shadow before Sonic took her hand, the happy couple walking off.

One of these days he'll get revenge. _One of these days._

Tikal stood up, clutching her bag around her shoulder. "Hi."

He pocketed his hands and gave her a nod.

"Do you have a shift today?" she chirped, a hint of hope in her voice.

"I don't," he said and saw the tad bit of hope fading away from her eyes, but he quickly regained himself, "But I'm going to get a drink. Would you like to accompany me?"

Honestly, it sounded like he was asking her out on a date. And the thought of it caused unwanted heat to spike across his cheeks.

"That would be nice," she said, her expression looking uplifting.

Seriously, angels weren't suppose to be on earth, were they?

As corny as it sounded, he couldn't help to think that she was one.

Oh god, she was making him _feel_ things.

...

"You didn't have to pay for me," Tikal told him as they were sat in a quiet area of the coffeehouse, "I-If anything I should be the one repaying you for helping me."

"It's okay," he said, putting down his cup, "It's rare that I'd invite someone to join me anyway."

"You like being alone?" she asked, voice sparking a bit of interest yet sincerity.

"I like being able to concentrate," Shadow replied, "I get my work done better."

The echidna nodded. "That's fair enough. Is that why you wanted to come here today? I don't mind if you want to get things done."

His grip on the cup loosened when he looked at her. "No, I..."

 _Want to hang out with you_ , he wanted to say.

Shadow didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable though, saying something so weird and intimate out of the blue.

"I have some unfinished papers, but I can do those tomorrow," he said instead, inwardly praising himself for the response, "I'm nearly done with them so they won't take long."

 _Nice save._

"Ah," Tikal understood and gave him a smile, "Good luck on those papers then!"

Shadow cracked a smile of his own. "Thanks."

"Oh," she leaned down and pulled out something from her bag, "Do you think you could extend my borrowing time for this?" Tikal presented a book in her hand, "It's due in two days, but I haven't finished reading it yet because of my assignments."

"Of course," he held out his hand so she could give it to him, "How long would you like it for?"

The echidna handed over the book. "I think a week would be enough," she giggled, "It's a slow burn so I want to be able to read it properly."

He took a look at the book's cover before flipping it over to scan the blurb. "Is it good so far?"

"Mhm," Tikal answered whilst taking a sip of her coffee, "It's about a girl named Lily, and she loves to draw!" she beamed, clasping her hands together in excitement, "Unknowingly to her friends, she's also a wizard! So whenever she draws something, she can bring it to life and create her own fantasy world! I haven't gotten far into it yet but she seems like such a sweet character and—"

She continued to ramble on about the book and Shadow took notice of her happy expressions. Her eyes and smile all looked so innocent and real that he couldn't help but gawk at the girl. Her uplifting attitude sent tingles down his spine and left that unsettling feel of butterflies in his stomach again.

Chaos, and her _voice_.

He could listen to her talk _all_ day.

Shadow shook his head. _Was_ he officially becoming some lovesick fool?

He peaked to see that she was smiling at him as she ended her talk. And it suddenly felt warm against his muzzle, in which the heat was impossible to fight back.

Oh dear. He _was._

"Shadow?" he heard her call, and the hedgehog snapped out of his trance and stared at her concerned face, "Are you okay? You look... red."

He wanted to choke on his drink but managed to hold it back and down it slowly. Stupid emotions. "It's just a little hot in here."

Which was true since everyone orders mostly a warm drink rather than an iced one. Steam always flew through the air. But still, it was a stupid answer to give. Though judging from her face, she seemed to have bought it.

"Oh," she was genuinely concerned, "Would you like me to get you a glass of water then?"

"It'll pass," he said, waving the kind gesture off, "But thank you."

Tikal slightly tilted her head at him before nodding. "All right."

...

Sonic came over to the counter and slammed his pile of books down in front of him. Shadow calmly averted his eyes towards them before darting his gaze at the male. "What?"

"So, how'd it gooo?" the blue hedgehog asked him, leaning against the counter, "Did you get to know her better?"'

He sighed. "She likes to read in her spare time, she loves writing and she wants to become an author," he then got up from his chair and began to register the books, "There, happy?"

Sonic nodded. "I'm guessing she hasn't noticed that you like her yet?"

"I'd rather not rush things," he said, "Hell, we haven't even called ourselves friends yet."

The other rolled his eyes. "If you two are seeing each other in a library and hanging out, then you're already friends! It speaks for itself!"

"Shut up," Shadow hissed after hearing some muttered complaints, "And okay. But on the contrary, I'm not like you so I'm taking things my own pace."

"Taking things your own pace, huh?" his rival crossed his arms, "What if someone else takes her before you do?"

The sudden question made him stop what he was doing. "Someone else?"

"Really, what if _someone else_ was interested in her?" Sonic shrugged, "Amy told me she isn't with anybody, but that could change in due time. And that person changing it may not be you."

Shadow stalled for a moment. Another guy with Tikal? For some reason, the thought of it disturbed him. From what he'd seen and heard, a lot of guys have been taking several advantages towards girls, and there was no doubt that someone would do the same to echidna. She was far too kind and forgiving, probably even oblivious as he was when it came to romantic relationships. "I guess that would be unfortunate..."

"It would," the other hedgehog shook his head and pulled out his phone, quickly texting something.

Shadow felt his phone buzz from his pocket and he dug it out. "Whose number is this?"

"It's Tikal's," Sonic replied, "I usually text her if she wants to hang out with Amy and I or if I need help with my assignments."

He glanced at him. "I don't think I would need it right now."

"Look, Twinkle Park let's couples go in for free," Sonic put his phone away before he leaned in slightly, "Text her and ask if she's available this Saturday. If she is, then meet up with her and hang out."

"What if she isn't?" Honestly, he saw how engrossed she was when she was working. He didn't want to be in the way of that.

"Pfft I doubt it," the speedster seemed to have thought it'd be ridiculous, "Plus, she already has a liking towards you so there's no way she'd say she can't."

Shadow eyed at the number on his screen before letting out a longing sigh. "Fine, whatever. I'll ask her."

"That's the spirit!"

He rolled his eyes whilst pocketing his phone. "Get out. You're annoying me."

Sonic grinned, picking up his books. "Good luck!"

"Yeah, yeah."

...

On that Saturday, Shadow had been sat on the bench distracting himself by playing a mini game on his phone. Tikal had agreed that she'd be able to go with him, and the anticipation and nerves started to kick in. What if she found it to be boring? Twinkle Park wasn't exactly boring but wouldn't she find _him_ boring? He wasn't exactly the type of person to get overly excited about certain things that most people would. And he's never been on a date before, though he had a rough idea what to do in them. The park was packed with many things, so it should be fairly easy, right?

Ugh, all this overthinking nonsense was hurting his head. Who knew liking someone could send you off to your limits?

"Shadow?"

His attention on his phone quickly faded when he heard the familiar angelic voice. He looked up to see Tikal standing in front of him, and immediately took notice of her outfit. It was different from what she'd usually wear for the female echidna was wearing a light green dress.

Shadow didn't mean to stare for so long and when he realised the duration, he stood up as he cleared his throat. "Hey."

Were their greetings always going to be this awkward?

"Have you been here before?" she asked, looking towards the entrance of the park with curiosity.

"No," he answered. He's only ever heard Sonic and Amy talk about it when they go out on their dates. Rouge would sometimes talk about it whenever she went with Knuckles. He had sped past it a few times but never really paid attention to it, "It's my first time."

Tikal let out a soft laugh. "That's okay. In that case, I guess we could look around?"

"Sure," Shadow answered with a nod, phone in his pocket. She gave him a smile before they made their way to the gate.

"Do you have the tickets?" she queried.

He gave her an awkward gaze but before he could answer, the lady at the front desk beat him to it.

"Couples go in for free!" she loudly stated, making the echidna flinch over to the female fox, "Twinkle Park offers exclusive items and discounts for cute couples, so enjoy!"

Way to go, _fox woman._

"O-Oh!" Tikal felt her cheeks heating up as she looked at Shadow. He didn't say anything, in fact he refused to look at her as he started to walk inside the park. Tikal thanked the lady and obediently followed him.

"Sorry," he apologised, "I should've told you beforehand."

She shook her head with a giggle. "No, it's fine."

Shadow smiled a little and then looked around. It was quite busy, which was expected since it was Saturday. Truthfully, he didn't know where to start. It was a little too soon to go on the rollercoasters. It was nearly lunch time, so perhaps they could eat first? He turned his head around to ask Tikal where she would like to go, only to see the girl's attention had diverted towards a stand full of stuffed chao toys. He trailed his eyes over to the game that was required to win one.

"Do you want one?" he asked her. It seemed pretty simple. All you had to do was shoot a couple of darts perfectly into the middle.

"I'm not really good at aiming," Tikal said sheepishly when she too gazed over to the game.

Shadow gave her a side glance before slowly making his way towards the stand. He paid the worker the cash as the darts were given out to him.

When Tikal saw what he had done, she quickly wanted to protest. "Shadow—!"

He calmly threw the darts without fail, and a few seconds later, the sound of the bell dinging indicated that he had won the prize.

"Congratulations!" the worker said and walked around the stand to grab one of the stuffed chao. He handed it over to Shadow before serving the next customer.

"Here," he held out the chao to her, which she hesitantly took.

"Sh-Shadow..." Tikal was flustered, her eyes widening, "I-I appreciate it! But..."

"But what?"

She then laughed at his oblivious manner. "You don't have to pay for me for everything. It's okay if I can't afford it."

He felt confused at that. Wasn't the guy suppose to spoil the girl as much as possible on dates? Then again, Tikal probably just saw this as a friendly outing, not a date.

"But thank you!" Tikal hugged the chao with joy and Shadow found the sight to be... adorable.

Yes, the word was out of his usual vocabulary. But there was no point denying it to himself.

"She's so cute!" she beamed, letting it rest against her stomach.

"You like chao?" he asked, making her look up at him.

"I do," she smiled, "I visit the Chao Garden frequently to give them company."

Such a kind hearted soul she had. Seriously, why did fate even let him near this girl? "I see."

"If you want, we could go there together someday," Tikal said, gently stuffing away the toy, "I'm sure they'd love to see you!"

He wasn't entirely on the fence about that. Sure, chao were innocent little creatures but they were excessively hyper all the time, wanting you to play with them. But if it was for her, then he wouldn't mind. That way he could see her smile a lot more.

Boy, what a man would do for a woman.

"Sure," he said before looking at the time, "Would you like to go eat now? We can explore more after."

"All right," she said, "But please don't pay for me this time?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes at her, but then remembered what she said before. "We'll split it."

Hearing that there was no room for argument in his voice, she sighed as she shook her head with another smile. "Fair enough."

...

"Where do you want to go next?" Shadow asked, eyeing around the park. He glanced over to the echidna, but didn't find her immediately. He turned around completely to see her apologising to someone before running up to him.

"I'm sorry. It's just really crowded here, " Tikal said, uncomfortably rubbing her shoulder, "I guess around after lunch it gets really packed."

She wasn't wrong. They were lucky enough that they easily found a seat when they ate, because as soon as they sat down, floods of people came through the doors. He didn't think they'd make it out of the food court _alive_.

Shadow wasn't much of a people's person so he understood how she must've felt. "We can go to a quieter place if you'd like."

"You don't want to go on any of the rides?" she questioned him.

He shrugged. "That's if you want to."

Tikal looked over to the rollercoasters. Many went upside down in circles while there were others dropping you down fast. "I-I'm not a big fan of rides," she said sheepishly and looked back at him, "But I'm not stopping you from going!"

"I'm not into them," he said, letting out a chuckle. That's because he could already go _ten times faster_ than those rollercoasters. It'd be pointless.

She seemed relieved by his answer. "I remember seeing an empty spot we went passed."

The black hedgehog nodded, knowing exactly what spot she was talking about. "Just walk close to me so you don't get lost."

He was about to start moving again until the feeling of her hand stopped him.

"Actually I," her hand reached for his own, and held it and Shadow swore his whole arm just fell off. She glanced up at him, blushing deeply, "D-Do you mind?"

 _Did he mind?_ What the—of course not! Throughout this whole date, he had been having little mini arguments with himself whether to make a subtle move or not. This went far beyond his expectations.

"I don't mind," he replied smoothly, fighting off the tickling sensation in his stomach.

Tikal was grateful. "Thank you!"

Shadow quickly looked away as they started walking. The more they walked, the more busier it got. He felt her squeeze his hand, possibly for comfort. So being the gentlemen he was, he squeezed back.

Now they really looked like a couple.

And the redness on his cheeks was _really_ taking its toll.

Chaos, just slap him. He could be sweating beads right now. Seriously, how does one even do this? How does Sonic, _of all people_ , deal with all this with Amy everyday? Hell, how does Knuckles even manage do this? The guy was hard-headed as a bull, but he still managed to sweep Rouge off her feet. And here he was, Shadow the Hedgehog, surprised he could even _stand_ when his hand is being held by a beautiful echidna.

Once they got through the crowd, they both simultaneously let go. He quietly grimaced, missing the warmth. The two got to the spot and sat down on the table. Since most people were at the centre of the park, there was hardly anybody around the outside, making it a perfect opportunity for him to sort his thoughts out and have a proper conversation with her.

"Maybe Twinkle Park isn't the best place for us," Tikal laughed out, "Perhaps next time we can go to a normal park."

He couldn't agree more. "Yeah."

After that, there was some silence. Tikal managed to distract herself as she sorted out her bag.

Shadow frowned slightly, wondering in his head if he could do this. If she was happy about his feelings and accepted them, then it'd be a dream come true. He wouldn't have to worry about anybody else taking her, he'd pretty much be less gloomy all the time, and most of all, his friends wouldn't constantly nag him about not getting a girlfriend.

His frown deepened. Then there were the consequences. Rejection. The word left a sour taste in his mouth. What if he got rejected? They've formed a friendship, but just confessing and her not feeling the same way would cause an awkward barrier between them, and possibly a shot of his pride. She probably wouldn't even spare a look at him.

 _It's now or never, Shadow._

"Tikal."

The echidna stopped fiddling with the things in her bag and paid her attention to him. "Yes?"

He saw her put her bag away and straighten her posture. "I would... like to talk to you about something."

"Of course," she smiled, her expression not shifting, "Anything!"

Shadow blushed openly in front of her, because there was no excuse or reason to hide it now.

His stomach started to do backflips, his fingers were shaking. Lord, he could even feel his teeth threatening to chatter.

So much for big talk.

 _Damn it all._

"Actually," he changed his mind, "...Never mind."

Wasted a day, and realised he wasn't ready. All that self debating didn't teach him a thing or two. Just _perfect_.

Tikal's smile slowly vanished as she tilted her head, before sitting up again, her lips curling once more. "May I talk to you about something then?"

It wasn't something he expected for her to say, so when he darted his eyes over her, the sudden anxiety and anticipation crept in him again. "Go ahead."

"You're a nice person to hang out with," she stated suddenly, "Sonic and Amy have told me a lot about you," Shadow's eyes widened slightly at that but she reassured him quickly, "But they never said anything bad! In fact, they said you were intelligent, patient and fun to be with!" Tikal's smile widened, "Which I agree!" she reached for his hand without his resistance, and laced their fingers together, "I felt intrigued when I first met you, because you looked like you seemed down," Tikal laughed gently, "I think you're really sweet and—"

"I like you," he blurted out.

And it felt like a glass just shattered onto the floor.

Tikal stopped talking and her blue eyes widened at him, her grip on his hand loosening. Shadow stared back at her, his mouth slightly apart. He blinked, twice, and looked down at their hands. He gritted his teeth before clearing his throat. "Excuse me," Shadow said, getting up from his chair in an attempt to try and find a nearby bathroom or _somewhere_ to flee the horrid scene.

Just when he was about to walk off, she stopped him. She stopped him by getting a hold of his hand again and making the hedgehog turn around to face her.

The smile he'd always be yearning to see plastered her lips once more as she intertwined their fingers.

"I think you're really sweet," she continued from where she had left off, "And I feel like I want to get to know you better, because you're an interesting person to me," Tikal blushed, but regained her confidence as she observed their locked hands and glanced back up at him, "I'm just happy you feel the same way."

Shadow felt his heart thumping quickly, like it could rip out of his chest any second. "Are you saying...?"

She laughed, cupping his face with her free hand before placing a soft kiss on his cheek. Tikal pulled away, and leaned her forehead against his, her arms around his neck. "Yes."

 _..._

 _A few weeks later_

Shadow was the last to step out of the library as he locked up for the night. Sticking the keys into his pocket, he went down the steps just in time to catch a glimpse of orange at the bottom of the staircase.

Tikal stopped reading when she caught him walking down. "Hey," she said, putting her book away and smiled up at him.

"How long have you been waiting out here?" he asked, grabbing a hold of her hand as their fingers slowly laced together.

"Not long," Tikal replied, gently pecking his lips, "How are you?"

"Fine," Shadow murmured, eyes half-lidded as their lips connected once more, "How was class?"

"Okay," she giggled, "I've handed in all of my assignments, so I guess I have that weight off my shoulders now."

He chuckled lowly and placed another kiss on her forehead. "I'm glad."

Smiling again at the affection, Tikal looked up at him. "Coffee?"

Shadow smiled back, squeezing their hands. "Yeah."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 _And then freaking Sonic is yelling in the back saying "I SHIIIIIIIP" and Amy embarrassingly drags her blue bby away, giving a supportive thumbs up to OUR PRECIOUS BABIES!_

 _I like this one, but at the same time, I kinda don't. It seems so cheesy but I'm still proud of it no matter what! I hope you guys enjoyed it and thank you for the continuous reviews, favs and follows! I'm gonna go play Sonic Mania and GET THROUGH THESE DAMN SPECIAL STAGES._


	9. Trying

_Characters belong to SEGA._

* * *

 _009\. Trying_

Tikal sat on her desk and worked away, numerous of ideas filling her head as she wrote them down on her paper. She loved her literature classes! It was where she could focus on writing her stories creatively, jotting down plots and devices in her plan. She paused in her writing before quickly reading what she had wrote so far as a smile of satisfaction curled her lips.

"Tikal."

The echidna looked up to see Amy unfolding her wheelchair. The pink hedgehog smiled at her. "Time to go!" she whispered.

"Oh," Tikal said feeling a little disappointed. Time went so quickly. "O-Okay."

Their teacher came up to them with a small laugh. "I'll let you have some time to finish it tomorrow, dear," she neatly began to collect in her papers, "Good work today!"

"Thank you," the echidna said politely, feeling happy. Packing her things away, she slowly got up from her chair, and with the help of Amy, she placed herself onto the wheelchair. Her friend began to push her out of the class as they entered the hallways.

"Do you think we could go to my locker first?" Tikal asked, "I just want to put these books away."

"Of course!" Amy replied cheerfully and made their way to her locker. Once there, Tikal unlocked the passcode to it and carefully put the heavy books away inside. Once she closed her locker, the sound of the bell rang.

"They should be out of soccer practice right now," Amy said as she pushed her along, "Do you want to wait outside the gym?"

"That'd be fine," Tikal responded with a kind smile as the hallways began to get busy with students coming out of their classes. Amy stopped them near the entrance and after a few seconds, all the sports teams started to out come one by one and group by group. She felt hesitant as the area became packed and clutched on the arm rest of her wheelchair for some comfort. Amy seemed to have noticed this for she pulled the both of them to a corner. She silently thanked her as they waited. She nervously looked around, trying to avoid people's gazes until her eyes spotted red and black coming out the door. Tikal relaxed herself as he walked towards them.

"Sonic's outside waiting for you," Shadow told Amy.

Amy nodded and looked down at Tikal. "Call me later if you need help with the homework, okay?"

"Sure," Tikal said with a laugh as they shared a hug. Amy waved at them before walking off. She saw Shadow walking around her and took a hold of the push handles before wheeling her outside the campus. The echidna closed her eyes and leaned back, taking in the fresh air. Today had been a busy day, so she was pretty much exhausted. Tikal made sure to remember to do all her homework before the weekend, where she could catch up on some sleep.

She opened her eyes as they came to a stop. Rubbing them, she saw Shadow setting his stuff down onto the table before going up to her. Tikal adjusted herself as he lifted her up off the wheelchair and onto the wooden table seat.

He set her bag down for her and sat on the opposite side. "How was class?"

Tikal finished taking the last sip from her water bottle. "It was good," she smiled, "It was a creative writing piece we had to do."

"Ah," he nodded with a small smile of his own, "Of course you must've did amazing."

"Thank you," she giggled and looked at him, "How was soccer practice today?"

Shadow's face fell a little. "I don't feel like talking about it."

Tikal's eyes widened slightly. "Did something happen?"

"Yes," he responded, "Some of us had a few arguments with the coach, that's all."

That cleared some things up. Shadow didn't particularly like their coach, just because how loud and obnoxious he could be, not to mention strict. She felt sorry for him and the others that they had to endure it, but Shadow loved pushing and exceeding his limits, so he must've gotten used to the pressure. She had seen him play before, and he was incredible.

"We're only here for a few more weeks," Tikal said, trying to lighten up the mood, "You'll be free after."

"Mm," Shadow said with a chuckle, "That's what's motivating me right now."

She shook her head with a smile and got out her writing book, flipping a few pages until she got to her most recent. Just when she was about to mark her pen on the paper, Shadow's finger tips stopped her. Gazing at them, Tikal shifted her look to him.

"Do you," the hedgehog started, "Do you want to go to the dance with me?"

Tikal felt taken aback, her mind focusing on the one word. "D-Dance?"

Shadow took note of her changed attitude but said nothing about it. "Yes."

The dance everyone was talking about never really caught her attention that much. Whenever her friends brought it up, she'd slowly zone herself out into reading a book or doing something that had nothing to do with the event. She felt somewhat left out, embarrassed, because of not having the faith in herself and the potential to get involved.

She stared at him, her blue irises almost quivering as she glanced down at her legs. She felt nothing of them, they were just numb. They always were. No matter how much she tried, even as a child, there was no possible way, physically, to walk or move them.

The echidna gazed back at him. "I-I can't..." Tikal placed a hand on her leg, "I really want to, b-but..."

Shadow stayed quiet for a while, his expression unreadable. He gently grabbed both of her hands, making her blush feverishly as their eyes locked again.

"You can," he said, squeezing her hands.

Tikal blinked, thinking he was just about insane. "I can?"

He didn't answer and instead stood up, their hands letting go of each other's. She watched him as he glanced around the area before setting his look on her again.

"I'll show you."

She sat there, bewildered. "W-What?"

Shadow leaned forward and gently lifted her up from her elbows. Feeling panic arising, Tikal frantically latched onto his neck, her stomach doing flips. "Sh-Shadow?"

"Sorry," he mumbled and held her steady, "Just bear with me..."

He held her with one arm as he knelt down. Holding him, Tikal averted her eyes down at the hedgehog, and saw that he had shifted her feet onto his. Shadow stood up carefully, making sure she was steady and used his other arm to loop it around her waist.

Tikal blushed, not used to being in such a position before. She looked up at him and her blush worsened when his stare seared her. The echidna yelped, gripping onto the hedgehog's shoulder as she swallowed down a gulp.

Fortunately enough, she wasn't the only red one in this awkward situation. Being so close to him, she could see the faint redness dusting his cheeks.

"Lift up your right hand for me," Shadow commanded softly. Tikal obeyed at his request. He watched as she held her hand up before finally intertwining their hands with his left. Once again, his other hand slithered down onto her waist. Shadow observed her, his ruby emeralds sending a nervous shiver down her spine.

He started moving. Shadow took a step forward and then another to the side. One step back and then one to the other side.

"Shadow?" Tikal whispered, feeling unsure.

He ignored her and kept his eyes down at their feet, making sure he didn't screw up. He looked back up at her, a slight frown on his lips. "Do you want me to stop?"

She pressed her lips together and then parted them just a bit, gritting her teeth slightly. Of course she didn't want him to stop. This was something she never got to do before, ever. This wasn't how couples normally waltz, but Shadow somehow made it possible for her to participate. Even though she wasn't the one who was moving.

"N-No..." Tikal stuttered. She was scared but she didn't want to disappoint him. This was probably something he had been wanting to do with her for a long time. Why put the opportunity down for him?

Shadow tightened his hold around her waist, involuntarily making crimson bloom onto her cheeks again. "I've got you," he reassured her ever so tenderly, their faces close.

She gave him a slow set of blinks before hesitantly nodding. Shadow held his gaze on her before he moved again, doing the same routine of steps. Her grip on his shoulder loosened as she got the hang of it, regardless of the fact that Shadow was the one doing all the work.

"Are you getting dizzy?" he asked when noticing her eyes. She didn't respond but he stopped and carried her anyway. Shadow placed her onto the wheelchair and knelt down, his hand on her cheek. "Do you want me to get you a drink?"

Again, no response. Tikal didn't know what to say. She quickly wiped off some of the tears that suddenly fell. But it was fruitless. She tried so hard to keep everything in, but she couldn't fight off her one weakness. The echidna took jittery breaths, hesitantly making eye contact with the hedgehog. "I want to go with you, b-but..."

Shadow stared at her, his face softening even more. "I'm sorry," he helped wipe off some of the tears, "I just wanted to try," he averted his eyes to the side, "I'll be more considerate next time and not make you feel uncomfortable like that again."

Tikal sniffled and let out a few laughs. The sound confused the hedgehog as he fixated his look on her again. She rubbed her eyes, smiling at him tearfully. "I've never done anything like that before and having you try your best to make me experience it," she paused as she sniffled some more, "Is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"Of course," he said and nodded, taking a hold of her hand, "I love you."

Tikal tilted her head with another tear falling smile. "I sometimes wonder how you can love someone who can't do simple things," her voice cracked, "Who has to rely on a wheelchair to move around and have someone do things for them."

The glare he gave off didn't surprise her in the least. He hated it when she berated herself like that.

"Don't," his glare somewhat intensified, "Just _don't_."

"I know," she said, her voice hoarse though her smile remained.

"You know I'd do anything for you," Shadow stated firmly, "And I will _never_ pressure you into doing something."

Tikal giggled again. He was so sweet. Maybe to some people from a glance, he wasn't. But he truly was. The word would've been strange to the hedgehog but to her, it was the perfect way to describe him and his actions.

"I want to go," she said with confidence this time, squeezing their hands, "I-I really want to go."

Shadow leaned closer, and she could've swore she saw his eyes almost lit up. "You do?"

She smiled sweetly and pressed their foreheads together. "If I'm with you, then yes. I do."

It was a chance or risk she was willing to take.

Shadow cracked a smile and seeing that, she couldn't help but softly kiss him on the lips. It was only a brief kiss. The echidna was still so shy to do longer ones while out and about in public. He didn't mind it though, as he had gotten adjusted to her likes.

"Are you sure?" he suddenly queried, concerned, "You're not scared?"

Tikal took a shaky breath. "I-I am," she squeezed his hand once more, "But if I don't do this, then I'll never be a hundred percent proud of myself."

"You can always change your mind," Shadow said, "Like I said, I'm not forcing you to—"

"Shadow," she whined, making him stop abruptly, "Please?"

He gazed into her eyes for a moment. They quivered but they held confidence and determination. Feeling his cheeks go a little warm from the sight, he shifted his look to their hands. "Fine..."

She smiled and embraced him tightly, burying her head onto his shoulder. "Thank you..."

She felt his hands slithering around her waist as he pressed their bodies together. He let out a few chuckles, leaving butterfly kisses on her shoulder. "Don't mention it."

"I'll have to find a dress," Tikal stated as they pulled away. She shyly played with her dreads. "Though, Amy said she would take me shopping."

Shadow shook his head with a laugh. "Regardless of what you wear, you'll still look beautiful."

Tikal yelped at the comment as heat flared up her cheeks once again. "Shadow..."

He smiled, admiring her bashful attitude. "Let me do this properly," he brushed his lips against her fingers, "Will you, Tikal the Echidna," Shadow kissed her hand and looked up at her, "Be my date for the dance?"

She melted against his touch, almost feeling weak against them.

Tikal closed her eyes and then opened them. Ignoring the flustered heat on her cheeks, she nodded. "I'd be honoured."

They shared another smile together before Shadow cupped her cheeks. "It feels like a dream."

She leaned into his hands, eyes half-lidded. "But it's not."

"Yeah," he breathed in, "I know..."

...

She nervously pressed on the creases of her blue dress as she waited. Wheeling back to the mirror, Tikal took a look at herself.

The echidna slowly leaned back against her chair. Amy had a good taste in dress choices. The midnight blue on this sundress really did stand out on her. She stared at her thin overalls. At first, Tikal wasn't sure if exposing her shoulders was all that necessary. However, her pink friend reassured her that it was normal. Amy did add in a suggestive comment about how Shadow would love it, but she'd rather not go into the details about that...

The doorbell rang, making her flinch over to the door. Adjusting her dress once more, Tikal anxiously pushed her wheels to the front. She twisted the knob and went back as she pulled it open.

Her gaze locked onto the black hedgehog that stood there. Blue irises trailed down the black suit he wore, with a matching tie and dress shoes, all contrasting with the white dress shirt underneath his suit coat. A single red rose was held in his hand, and Tikal couldn't help but notice his analytical eyes trailing down at her.

"Wow," he was speechless, much to her flustered self, "You look beautiful."

She blushed, clasping her hands together. "Th-Thank you."

Shadow smirked and handed her the rose. "For you."

Trying to fight off her blush, she took it with ease. She smiled at him bashfully, nodding in thanks. Shadow brought up her free hand against his lips before kissing it.

"Shall we go?" he asked, walking to go behind the wheelchair.

Tikal leaned back to look up at him with a smile. "We shall."


	10. Desire

_Characters belong to SEGA._

* * *

 _010\. Desire_

"Rouge," Tikal pleaded, "I really don't want to go in there."

"Tikal! You _need_ this. Every girl needs to party and so do you!" Rouge pointed out her dress, "I mean look at you, you're _gorgeous!"_

The girl gazed down at her dark green dress. Much to her dislike, it was a short dress revealing her legs openly. It wasn't a surprise that her batty friend picked it out for her.

"Honey, loosen up," Rouge said and slyly added, "You'll make the boys _woo_ for you."

She blushed furiously and let her friend drag her into the club. Tikal wobbled behind her as they were making their way to the front. During that, the echidna nervously looked around. People were dancing, drinking or making out. She quickly looked away with a hot face as she made sure she didn't lose her hold on Rouge.

Rouge stopped walking, making Tikal do so as well. "R-Rouge?"

"Oh, Knuckieeeee!" Rouge called out teasingly.

The red echidna turned around with a glare. "I told you to stop calling me that!"

She shrugged with a smirk. "Can't help it."

"Well you better start helping it because it's annoying!" Knuckles stated as he gritted his teeth. His anger settled down when he noticed someone behind her. "Who's that?"

Tikal meekly popped her head out before nervously coming into frame.

Knuckles's eyes widened in horror. "You brought Tikal here?!" he hissed, "What were you thinking?!"

Rouge only rolled her eyes. "I was _thinking_ that she should have fun once in a while," she said, "She looks stunning in that dress, don't you think?!"

Tikal gave her relative a stressful look.

Knuckles shook his head and walked up to her. "Do you want me to take you home?"

"What?! No!" Rouge yelled before Tikal could say anything and slapped his hand down, "She's not going anywhere!"

"You literally dragged her here when she didn't want to go!" Knuckles was agitated now, "Seriously? What kind of friend does that?!"

"A good friend!" the bat answered completely offended, "And how dare you speak to a lady like that?!"

Her relative laughed humourlessly. "Oh _please,_ as if you are one."

"Excuse me?!"

Tikal stared between them back and forth. Just seeing the two barking at each other was quite eventful... and scary. As much as the idea of her tip-toeing away was good, she didn't want either of them to get hurt. She began to open her mouth but a familiar voice had beaten her to it.

"Will you two shut up already?"

Her blood went cold.

No. No.

 _Please don't tell me that's-_

"Shadow!" Rouge exclaimed, her mood changing instantly, "What a surprise to see you here."

"You guys are loud," the black hedgehog stated, ignoring her greeting. He sat down on the stool with his drink, "Seriously, I could hear you from the back."

"It was her fault," Knuckles had sneered, "Bringing innocent Tikal here. What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?!" Rouge screeched, "Tikal should be able to go wherever she wants without your consent!"

"Yeah, but did she want to come here?" he snarled. Rouge stayed quiet. "Exactly!"

"Well, she's here now. All dressed up," she said and crossed her arms, "Too late for that."

Knuckles squinted his eyes, feeling more annoyed than ever. "Whatever! Tikal, don't be afraid to call me if you want to get out of here."

The thing was, Tikal wanted to go home badly. But she felt eyes locked onto her and she knew it was his. Even though she wasn't directly looking at them, she knew she wasn't going to be gone easily.

"N-No," Tikal stuttered and she smiled forcefully, "I'm fine Knuckles. Please go and have fun."

Knuckles and even Rouge herself gave the girl a surprised look.

"What?" Knuckles was bewildered, "Are you sure?"

Her lips quivered but she held it down. Tikal nodded. "I'm sure."

Rouge winked at her and turned to Knuckles. "See? She doesn't mind!" she said and linked her arm around him. "Now, dance with me."

"Huh?!" the echidna felt himself getting dragged away. He shot Tikal a look, but she insisted with a small thumbs up.

Once the two were gone, Tikal felt herself shaking suddenly. Her teeth chattered slightly and it didn't help that she still refused to look to her left.

Why was she so scared? Oh yes, because the man whom she was inches away from was looking directly at her. She lifted her shoulders, rubbing a hand on her bare arm. She had to go. There was no way she could face him.

"Heeeeeey, pretty lady."

Tikal quickly turned around to see a red fox. She immediately noted how messy his clothes were and that the smell of alcohol coming from him was not a good sign.

"Aren't you beautiful," he said with a grin and went to grab her hand, "What are you doing out here alone?"

The girl retracted her hand before the fox could touch it. "U-Um, excuse me..."

However, he blocked her from going any further. The lust in his eyes was evident, seeing that they were staring at her up and down. Tikal took a hesitant step back. "Why don't you dance with me? It'll be fuuun..."

Tikal felt helpless and was about to respond but she felt a hand pull her back from the stranger. Her eyes widened and she snapped her head up to see that it was Shadow.

"She's with me," he said lowly, a flash of irritancy in his eyes.

The fox sent him an annoyed look. "And who are you?" he asked and went forward to reach for Tikal's hand again.

Shadow grabbed his wrist to stop him from doing so. He shot a venomous glare as his grip started to increase. "No one you should be messing with."

He let go, leaving the drunk stranger to hold his wrist with a hiss. The fox cursed and walked away, muttering a few words underneath his breath.

Tikal stared after him, trying to process with what had just happened. If Shadow hadn't intervened the fox was surely going to take advantage of her.

She blushed when realising that the hedgehog was standing next to her. Tikal faced him as she rubbed her arm. "Th-Thank you."

Shadow flickered his eyes over to her. "I don't know why Rouge thought it was okay to bring you here," he frowned, "If you didn't want to go, you should've said so."

The echidna averted her eyes to the side. "I did. But she didn't listen..."

The fact she was refusing to look at him frustrated him greatly. He squinted before taking a hold of her hand. She looked at their hands and shot her eyes up at him in panic. He noticed this and almost let go, but he didn't. No. This time he wouldn't let her run.

Tikal's heart beat quickened.

Shadow analysed her flushed face but didn't comment on it. "Would you like to sit down?"

She pursed her lips together, and saw that his eyes trailed down to them. Letting out a yelp at that, she agreed frantically. "O-Okay."

She let him hold his hand as they went past through the groups of people. Tikal ignored the faint 'woos' and whistles directed at her and wasn't surprised when she felt Shadow's hand squeezing hers.

Once the crowd seemed to have dwindled, he sat her down onto a stool. Tikal helplessly adjusted the hem of her dress, trying to cover as much of her skin as possible.

Shadow sat next to her, giving a side glance in which she caught before he poured water into a glass. "Here."

She watched him as he slid the glass over to her. She glanced at him and silently thanked the man, lifting the glass up to her lips and took a few sips.

Putting it down gently, Tikal closed her eyes. Music was playing but she didn't want to focus on that. Neither did she want to focus on the hedgehog sitting next to her. Without realising, she shivered openly, rubbing her arms in hopes to gain some warmth.

"You should've worn a jacket," she heard Shadow say. Tikal felt alert when he took off his suit coat and handed it over to her.

Blinking, she sheepishly took it from him and wrapped it around her shoulders. Her nose caught the scent of his cologne but she brushed it off and huddled into the coat.

"There's a cut," he started and she followed his eyes down onto the slight upper part of her thigh, "What happened?"

Heat threatened her cheeks. Oh, why did Rouge have to push her to her limits? This dress was too much for her liking that it had to show a cut on her leg. Also, his attention were on them and that added her embarrassment.

"B-Badniks," she replied nervously covering it, "One of the metal pieces got stuck and..."

Tikal stopped. She was talking too much. Deciding that was enough information for the man to conclude, she nodded meekly.

Shadow just stared at her before blinking away from it. There was tint of guilt within his eyes. "All right."

Feeling a little relieved, she sighed softly and paid attention to her glass. It was so awkward. She wanted to leave and hide under her covers forever. She wanted to perhaps take a walk, get her mind settled and such. Take in the fresh air and see the chaos again for comfort.

But of course, fate decided that hanging out with Shadow the Hedgehog was a brilliant idea. She hated to say this, but it felt like she was being punished. Punished for being so stupid and scared.

She shouldn't be afraid of Shadow... right?

...xXx...

 _"Sh-Shadow?" she gasped as his hand crawled up underneath her skirt._

 _"What did you do to me?" he growled, their bodies touching one another's._

 _Tikal felt that it was getting unbearably hot. "I-I don't understand," she stuttered obliviously, heat spreading across her face._

 _"Don't play games with me," Shadow glared at her, pushing her against the wall deeper, "You know exactly what you did."_

 _She looked at him helplessly. "But I-"_

 _He kissed her. Tikal froze, her eyes widening. The heat from her cheeks rushed down to her neck. Shadow... was kissing her! It felt like a dream, a fantasy. Naturally, she shut her eyes and slowly began to kiss him back. She tried to keep up with his movements, but his hunger got the better of him. Maybe because his touches were making her weak, maybe because she was letting him do this._

 _He pulled away, a string of saliva breaking apart between them. Tikal's eyelids closed halfway as she breathed heavily. Before she could do anything, Shadow ravished her lips again. She looped her arms around his neck, pulling him in more. He groaned, his hands sliding down her petite body. Tikal let out a few whimpers but Shadow thought nothing of them. Instead, his lips left her own as the went further down onto her neck. He left soft kisses until she felt his teeth, making her grimace. It was until she felt his hand fiddling with the lace of her underwear that she finally resisted._

 _"S-Stop!" Tikal squeaked, pushing him off of her. The warmth immediately disappeared as his body left hers. She stood there, shocked, touching the fresh kiss mark on her neck. Gritting her teeth in embarrassment, she looked up at Shadow who was just as surprised by his actions._

 _"I-I..."_

 _"Tikal, I'm-"_

 _She hastily looked down and ran off, leaving him standing there in shock._

...xXx...

She hugged his blazer coat tighter around her, hiding the reddened face she was producing at the memory. The way his hands moved around her body was no was no dream, no mistake. It was like he wanted it to happen for years.

His lips. They were so soft. Despite his arrogant and unspoken nature towards others, he had a side that he rarely showed. She didn't realise until recently how lucky she was to witness it.

As much as she was shy to admit it, Shadow had some sort of attraction towards her. There was no denying that. When they were talking earlier, she didn't miss the subtle glances he gave down her body. There was a flash of lust in those ruby eyes, and then they quickly spawned back to normal. But, they gave off a different feeling than the ones the other men had given her.

Did Shadow attract her?

She imagined his face in her mind.

Shadow was very handsome. Not like she hadn't known that already. She was told that he attracted many females, but brushed them off coldly. She felt bad for them, as Shadow was simplistic and straight forward with most of his answers. One could say he was an aromantic. But after those events, he was indeed the opposite.

His eyes were really something. Not many people had red coloured eyes, so it was a first for her. They were... beautiful. Easy to get lost in.

Strong? Shadow was definitely strong. Like Sonic, he could run fast and defeat badniks with no problem. Though his powers were much more precise and deadly, he was calm and collected when using them. He'd defeat the enemy in a blink of an eye.

Tikal refused to fight by any means. Her pacifist nature caused the black hedgehog to save her countless of times. At first, he'd snap at her for going into danger. That was because he didn't know. Once she told him, he still didn't seem to grasp the concept of not fighting for self defence. Though as time went on, he gradually became less annoyed and just saved her with no comment. They became acquaintances, friends. She was so happy.

He protected her, with his strong and sturdy arms. It was something that flustered her dearly.

After that night, it was all she could think about. She easily avoided him like a plague, but her heart hurt terribly. Whenever they made eye contact at meetings or battles, he'd look away or vice versa. She felt upset by it. And she came to the conclusion that yes, she did have some infatuation towards him. She liked him. She had romantic feelings for him. She wanted him. She _wanted_ Shadow the Hedgehog.

She was just... she was just so _overwhelmed_ by all of it.

Tikal glanced over to the man. Shadow didn't seem to care to really register what was going on in his surroundings, for his phone was too busy occupying him. He probably got the impression that she didn't want to talk to him.

Feeling a little bravery building up inside her, she slowly stood up from the stool. Shadow's attention went off from his phone completely as he looked up at the girl. Tikal almost shrunk under his stare but fought it off. "C-Can I stay over for the night?"

Knowing how wrong and _foolish_ that sounded, she blushed a horrid red. Rouge was probably going to be busy with Knuckles tonight, and she was the one who had the keys to the house. Tikal saw his eyes widen before they quickly relaxed. Pocketing his phone, Shadow got up from his seat and intertwined their fingers without a word. He walked her out of the club and Tikal couldn't help but take in the fresh air. She needed that.

She looked up at Shadow, seeing that he hadn't said anything or faced her yet. The sounds of her heels were the only thing occupying their walk. Tikal gazed down at them. She had been walking in them for hours. It shouldn't hurt to just take them off now. She'd rather walk barefooted than have her feet aching for the rest of the night.

Tikal tugged on his hand making the hedgehog reluctantly stop and turn his head to her. The echidna let go of his hand and began to lift her legs, letting the strap loose free from her heels as she took the both of them off. She held the straps with her two fingers as she intertwined their hands again.

Shadow glanced down at her feet before looking back at her. "You're going to get cold."

Tikal gazed back at him, a small smile lining her lips. "It doesn't matter... I'm used to it."

He caught her smile and refrained himself from getting too happy about it. The hedgehog let out a sigh, scratching the back of his head and removed his suit coat off of her.

She tilted her head at that before feeling his hand underneath her legs and the other on her back. The echidna yelped and shot her blue eyes up at him. He didn't look back and instead stared forward, his signature frown on his lips as he sped off.

Tikal leaned against his chest, squeezing her eyes shut. His speed was incredible that she still didn't adjust herself to it. She couldn't help but steal a glance up at him. The frown was still stuck on his face but that didn't change the fact he was still so captivating. She resisted the urge to lay a hand on his cheek and gazed ahead.

They came to a stop. He gently put her down as he fished for his keys in his pocket. Shadow unlocked the front door and motioned the echidna to go in first. She nodded in thanks as she scurried inside away from the breeze. She heard the door shut from behind, and Shadow walked past her, flicking on the light switch.

"Would you like anything to eat?" he asked her, disappearing into the kitchen.

Tikal slowly trailed after him, rubbing her arm. "J-Just water's fine."

" _Again?_ " Shadow leaned back from his fridge to look at her.

She just nodded, unsure of what else to say.

He grunted and pulled out a carton of orange juice instead. Tikal quietly made her way into his living room and sat down onto the couch, adjusting the hem of her dress. Shadow came to view a few seconds later and handed her the small glass of juice. Tikal reached for the glass, and their fingers brushed lightly.

Startled, she looked at him with pink cheeks, slowly retrieving the drink from him. Lips hidden beneath the rim of her glass, she watched as the hedgehog took off his suit coat and neatly folded it, placing it onto a nearby chair. Tikal finished her sip from the drink and anxiously laid the glass down the coffee table. She then brought her legs up onto the couch, fiddling with her dress once more.

The urge of wanting his lips to press against her skin suddenly played through her mind.

 _No, Tikal! You were raised better than this!_

But... but she couldn't help it. It just felt so _right_. The urges were too strong to fight off.

"Let me make this clear," his deep voice echoed in the room. Tikal snapped out of her trance as Shadow lifted his legs up onto the couch, facing her. "My feelings are still the same," he looked directly at her, his features serious, "I don't know why I've been like this, but I can't seem to stop myself from being with you," the man glared at her as he started to lean in slowly, "Just what did you to me?"

Apprehensive of his forwardness to the subject, Tikal felt herself burn up and leaned away slightly. "I-I don't know..."

 _It-It's happening again..._

"Stop lying," he growled lowly and his body came in contact with hers as he pressed her onto the cushions, "Just stop."

"I-I'm not," she responded truthfully, weak against his touches as he pinned her down, "Sh-Shadow..."

Fear crept into her stomach. What was she suppose to do? He had her where he wanted her for so long. Nothing she was saying was getting through to him. He was glaring at her, frustration starting to build up in him. She could see it and felt powerless against it.

His fingers started to crawl up her leg and she yelped softly when they went under her dress.

"What do you want me to do, Tikal?" Her named rolled off his tongue, and it was getting unbearably hot with how close they were, "Should I let you go?" His hand began to rub her upper thigh, "Or let you stay?"

Trembling, she lifted up her right hand and buried it under his quills. Shadow didn't seem the least bit surprised at that and her actions pretty much answered his question.

Eyes half-lidded, the man hovered his lips closely over hers. Tikal steadily moved her hand onto his chest, wanting to almost push him back as their lips were just inches away. She took in his minty scented breath, his sensual touches on her thigh, his gentle low cooing voice.

Shadow looked at her then averted his eyes down her lips. Feeling alert, Tikal built up the energy to resist but before she could use it, Shadow had landed his lips onto hers. All the strength she had in her hand immediately vanished. Her irises turned hazy as she timidly kissed him back, lips moving in sync with his.

Tikal felt tears prickle underneath her lids. She let them fall, squeezing her eyes shut as she wrapped her thighs around the hedgehog's hips. He pulled away but they were still so close. He seemed to have noticed her tears but said nothing of it. Instead, Shadow brushed them away with his lips before making his way down her neck. He moved her long dreads away and caught the faint bite mark he remembered putting there.

Embarrassed, Tikal quickly covered it with her hand. "P-Please don't..."

His features washed with guilt. "Does it hurt...?"

She closed one eye and brushed her fingers over it. "It doesn't, b-but..."

Shadow's gaze went back onto it. Steadily, he removed her hand away from the mark. Her breathing hitched when feeling his warm breath over it. She relentlessly withered around but slowed down to realise that he was placing soft pecks on her neck. She flinched when his tongue began lapsing her skin but Shadow gripped her wrist, preventing such potential escape.

The echidna let the man continue his administrations, a few whimpers and squeaks escaping from her. She squeezed her thighs anxiously against his hips, earning a groan from him. Shadow pulled away, putting his hand's attention on her leg. He held it under her knee, letting it rest on his shoulder and kissed it all the up to the upper part of her thigh, dangerously close to the hem of her dress.

Shadow stopped when seeing the echidna's legs shaking. Letting out a soft sigh, he pulled away and locked his gaze back over to her. Tikal looked back at him, face completely flushed as she slowly sat up, pulling her knees against her chest shamefully.

"Y-You've fallen in love with me," Tikal stated bravely sobbing quietly.

He didn't say anything and instead just averted his eyes down. The hedgehog rubbed his temples, a small headache forming. "So it seems."

Her heart fluttered at the sound of that and Tikal didn't think twice when she went closer to him, closer to the point where she got on top of his lap. Shadow watched as her hand framed his face.

"Do you not want to be?" she asked, biting her lip. Being this close to him made her quiver slightly.

His frowned flattened. "No," Shadow whispered. He suddenly took her other hand and brushed his lips against her finger tips.

"Th-Then," Tikal trailed off as his eyes flickered over to her, "I feel the same..."

She felt him stiffen but she didn't break off her stare. Hearing someone confess their feelings back to you was a new feeling for Shadow and so the redness against his muzzle was no mistake.

Tikal smiled upon seeing that. "Ever since... that day," she nervously spoke, "I-I haven't been able stop thinking about you," the echidna let out a quiet laugh, "I've never felt this way before with someone. You're so... mysterious, Shadow," Tikal trailed her eyes down to their hands, "What," she then looked back at him, "What made you..."

"You caught my attention," Shadow answered her when she trailed off, "I refused to believe myself about it but then," the hedgehog lifted his other hand up to touch her one that caressed his face, "I saw how you were like with everyone," he said before sighing, "You... hated fighting. I never understood it because all my life I've been fighting for my own right. But then I realised how afraid you were to even come with us to the battlefield."

"I don't like hurting people," Tikal stated in a mere whispered, "Even if they're my enemy..."

Shadow cracked a smile. "I know. That's why I wanted to keep protecting you," his lips turned into a frown, "Then... it became something _different_. I thought you put some sort of spell on me," he closed his eyes, "I had these feelings for you and it just wouldn't go away..."

Tikal exhaled a shaky breath she was apparently holding. "That night... were you out of control?"

He opened his eyes. "I couldn't control myself after realising what was happening to me and I just..." Shadow gave her a guilty look, "I'm sorry."

She pressed her lips together before parting them. "I-I'm sorry for running away like that."

"You had every right to," Shadow shook his head, "If you didn't then..."

Tikal felt pressured for him to continue. "Th-Then...?"

"I would be out of my mind," he said, "I'd completely lose it."

Once again, she knew the answer to the next question but decided to ask anyway. "...Because?"

His stare hardened but it gradually softened. "Because I'm in love with you, Tikal."

She smiled, tears staining her face again. "I don't want to be afraid anymore," Tikal pressed their foreheads together, "So please show me that you do."

Shadow's eyes widened. "Tikal-"

She kissed him. It was a bold action and she didn't even think she could do it, but she did. And she didn't want to hold him back anymore with her fear and clumsiness. She finally felt the same way, even after those months of not being able to properly reciprocate everything. She had... fallen in love with him too. Who would guessed that opposites _do_ attract?

Shadow closed his eyes and moved his lips along with hers, using the same hunger and strength he had prior. Slithering his hands onto her sides, he laid her down and hovered over the echidna.

He pulled away briefly, just enough so he could take in her frame. She was intoxicating. Soft features were adorably flushed, cheeks a flattering red; Tikal's lips just parted slightly, releasing shaky breaths. The hedgehog felt a little amused to see that the girl's eyes were half-lidded with arousal and an almost drug-like haze.

Shadow was no fool. And Tikal knew that. Beneath the desire that slowly burned in her crystal blue eyes, Shadow could see the fear—the insecurity, the _anxiety_. He knew without her telling him that because in the back of her mind, unpleasant—unwanted memories were trying to break through. Despite her confident move from a few minutes ago, Tikal's body was instinctively tense and she'd fidget beneath him, as if she didn't quite know what to do with herself.

Tikal wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, desperately. "Please?" she asked, her voice a gentle whisper.

She saw him analysing her eyes again, letting him see her want—her need, her _affection_.

With a hardened line on his lips, Shadow obliged and finally leaned down to kiss her once again.

...

Hardly anyone was at the cafe during the late afternoon.

In her uniform, Tikal began walking up to a table to take their order. Though, her walking slowed down as she noticed Knuckles, Rouge and... _Shadow_ sitting on the empty table. Knuckles and Rouge were sitting together whilst Shadow sat alone on the opposite side. Her relative and the bat seemed to be bickering on about something and the black hedgehog was hardly paying attention as he sat there with a bored expression. However his red eyes flickered over to her as she neared and Tikal flinched, a heated blush forming her cheeks as her grip tightened on her notepad and pen. Hesitantly, she continued dragging her feet towards the table.

"Tikal!" Rouge greeted her happily. Though, Tikal didn't miss the eye twitch that her friend gave off. Knuckles should probably go easy on her...

"H-Hi," the echidna stuttered and pulled out her notepad in front, "What would you guys like to order?"

Rouge had told her the drink she wanted and Knuckles grudgingly muttered about wanting a regular coffee. Tikal wrote their orders down before slowly turning her gaze to Shadow. The echidna already knew what he wanted so she quickly jotted down a latte for him without a word.

She nodded at all of them with a smile and turned to go to another table, but Rouge's hand stopped her from doing so.

"Tikal," Rouge said, making the orange echidna turn around to face her. The bat's eyes trailed down her leg, "What's that on your leg?"

Tikal blinked and looked down at her black pencil skirt, locating what she was looking at. "Oh! That's just a cut from when we had that battle with the badniks."

Rouge didn't seem too convinced as she raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she pondered, "Because it looks like a hickey."

Knuckles choked on his water and snapped his head towards Tikal's leg. "What?!"

Tikal frantically stared at her thigh closely to where the cut apparently was and indeed, it was a hickey. The bite covered the cut that was there.

"Who... who gave you that?!" Knuckles stuttered as he shot his head up to his relative. Poor thing.

Rouge gave her a knowing look. "Well, well, well. Someone was having fun."

"Rouge!" Knuckles barked, "I told you dragging her along the party wasn't a good idea! Perverts were everywhere!"

Tikal blushed furiously at the comment and looked at her thigh once more. What could've...?

The images of last night immediately shot into her head.

The echidna bit her lip. _Sh-Shadow!_

She dragged her eyes over to the hedgehog and he was suggestively smirking at her. He was enjoying this. Tikal wanted to wipe it off him because he was watching her suffer and embarrass herself in front of her relative and close friend! _Th-That wasn't fair!_ She was so stupid not to have noticed earlier!

"It-It's not what you think," Tikal blundered, fruitlessly trying to deny it.

As much as he was finding it a pleasure to see the female echidna struggling and the other two teasing and lecturing her, Shadow couldn't let her face this alone. Actions took responsibilities after all. Shaking his head, he slowly stood from his seat, gaining the attention of Knuckles and Rouge. Tikal paused and nervously looked over to the man as he came closer to her, taking and lifting up her left hand in the process. Shadow brushed his lips over her fingers and Tikal's eyes widened, dropping her head down to cover the embarrassment evident on her face.

Shadow pulled his lips away and turned his head to an amused white bat and an utterly gobsmacked red echidna.

"I'm dreaming, I'm _freaking_ dreaming," Knuckles said, his mouth hanging as he pinched himself, "Y-You and Tikal...?"

"This is a surprise," Rouge suddenly said, a smile twitching upon her lips, "Looks like miracles _do_ happen."

Tikal hid her warm face with her dreads as much as possible.

Shadow looked over to her. "Yeah," he lifted her head up with his hand under her chin. The echidna fumbled with her words and he chucked. "They do."

He went forward so that their faces were unbearably close. "I love you," Shadow whispered gently. The words made Tikal weak again and she smiled shyly, letting him capture her lips.


	11. Halloween

_Characters belong to SEGA except for my OCs._

* * *

 _011\. Halloween_

"This is," Shadow picked up a piece of candy from one of the baskets and then dropped it back in, "A lot," he said before looking over to his children, "Are you sure the two of you can eat it all?"

"Yeah!" Crystal answered with high spirit but her voice lowered, "Well, mama said we should only eat a little."

Next to the small hedgehog, a black red-streaked echidna nodded. "She doesn't want our teeth to get cagities!"

"Ark, it's _cavities_!" Crystal corrected her younger brother with a giggle.

Ark just laughed over to his father. "Cavities!"

Shadow raised an eyebrow before letting out a little laugh himself. He knelt down in front of them and adjusted their costumes. "All right."

"Papa, we still have Mister Sonic's house to go to!" the little black hedgehog stated as Shadow fixed her witch's hat, "Dash said they've got slushies!"

"It's a little too cold for that, isn't it?" Shadow queried as he went over to Ark and adjusted his bow tie for his vampire costume, "What if you get ill?"

"Come on Dad," the echidna pleaded him, "Just this once!"

Crystal nodded eagerly with Ark. "Please?"

Shadow didn't say anything and gave them their baskets.

The two siblings looked at each other before gazing back at their father. "Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"

The black hedgehog pulled away from them and stood, staring in thought. They were giving those puppy dog eyes at him and honestly, it wasn't helping that they were blue, instantly reminding him of his wife. Uncrossing his arms, Shadow let out a longing sigh. "...Just this once."

"Yay!"

" _But_ ," once he said that, Crystal and Ark deflated slightly but Shadow just chuckled, "Don't tell your mother about this."

"Lips are sealed, Dad!" Ark said as he motioned himself zipping his lips with Crystal doing the same.

Shadow cracked a smile. "Good."

...

Once they reached the house, Crystal and Ark let go of Shadow's hands and ran up to the door. Ark reached up and pressed on the door bell just as Shadow slowly walked behind them.

The kids excitedly bopped up and down once the door opened. "Trick or treat!"

However, no one was there.

The corridor was dark, the spooky halloween decorations were the only things that glared at them. Immediately, Shadow had his suspicions but let it pass.

"H-Hello?" Crystal stuttered as she peaked inside.

"M-Maybe they're not home?" Ark said as he hid behind his sister.

She backed away with him. "Th-Then who opened the-"

"BOO!"

Crystal and Ark both dropped their baskets and ran to Shadow, hiding behind his legs as they shook.

Laughing was heard after and two blue figures came out from the corner.

One of them was Dash. "Dad, we got em!"

Sonic proudly ruffled his son's hair. "Yeah we did!"

"That wasn't funny!" Crystal yelled and then pouted, pointing at the scattered candy, "You made us drop all our candy!"

"Aw, sorry guys!" Dash said with a few finished snorts and giggles, "Here," he sped around the area and handed them their now candy-filled baskets, "There ya go!"

Sonic focused his look over to Shadow, a sly smirk showing on his lips as he eyed down his simplistic costume. "Just a cape?"

"I could say the same to you," the black hedgehog squinted his eyes, "Scare my kids again and I'll make you regret it."

The other lifted his hands up in defence. "Dude, it's called having the halloween spirit!"

Shadow only scoffed. "Then perhaps if I dressed up as a water monster, that'll probably make you bolt out of this planet."

Sonic twitched his eye at the snarky remark. "Riiiight," he looked down at the kids with his signature grin, "You guys want the slushies then?"

The siblings nodded. "Yes Mister Sonic!"

"What about you?" the blue hedgehog asked his rival.

"I'm good," Shadow politely declined with a shake of his hand.

Amy came into the frame with a bag of candy. "Sonic! What did I tell you about not scaring the children?"

"Oh, come on Ames. They weren't that scared!" Sonic said as he handed the kids their slushies.

She huffed. "Look at them, they're shaking!"

"But mooom," Dash whined, "It's halloween!"

The pink hedgehog shook her head. "We've already gotten several complaints today. That's the last time! Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am," the blue hedgehogs obeyed sadly.

Amy exhaled before smiling at Crystal and Ark. "Sorry about that," she knelt down at their level and filled their baskets with some chocolates, "Be good kids tonight, okay?"

"Thanks Miss Amy!" Ark said with a beaming smile at the amount of candy he had in his basket.

"Aww, you're welcome!" she ruffled their heads softly before standing up, "Have a Happy Halloween!"

"We will!" Crystal cheered with a bright smile, "And you too!"

Sonic suddenly crouched down in front of them. "Remember, sleep with the lights on tonight 'cause you don't wanna attract the gho-"

"Okay, that's enough!" Amy grabbed her husband by his ear, shooting an apologetic look to Shadow before pulling the blue speedster into the house, "Dash, come inside when you're done!"

"Amy, OW!" Sonic whined, finding impossible to resist his wife's strength and let himself be dragged inside.

The kids tilted their head at the couple's odd behaviour, Shadow rolling his eyes.

"Well," Dash turned to face them and waved, "I'll see you guys in school! Bye Mister Shadow!"

Shadow nodded as his farewell while Crystal and Ark cheerfully said their goodbye's just as Dash closed the door. Shadow took a hold of their hands again as they went down the steps from the house and onto the pavement.

"Dad, can we not walk back home?" Ark tugged on his hand with a whine, "My feet have been hurting all day."

"Mine too," Crystal agreed with a whine of her own, "We've been trick or treating the whole night," she smiled up at him, "Can you use Chaos Control?"

In most cases Shadow would've said no. However, it was getting late and they've been walking non-stop to different houses. Using Chaos Control was only for emergencies but seeing how he didn't want their feet to ache later, he didn't see why not.

"All right, but finish those slushies first," Shadow said as he sat them onto a nearby bench, "And don't drink them too fast."

"Okay!" they simultaneously said and slowly began to finish off their icy crushed drink. Once they were done, Shadow took the empty plastics and threw them into a recycling trash can from around the corner.

"Stay close now," he huddled them together and pulled out his green emerald. Shadow shut his eyes tight as the kids braced themselves. He raised the emerald up into the air.

"Chaos Control!"

...

"Oh, you're back!" Tikal said as the kids ran inside with Shadow shutting the door and towing along, "Did you have fun?"

"Yup!" Ark said as he and his sister showed their candy to her.

"Oh my goodness, that's a lot!" she knelt down to see them before looking at her children, "Don't gobble them all now. I don't want any of you to get an upset tummy."

"Mama, we know!" Crystal stated and then grinned, "Can we just have a little now though? We promise not to eat a lot!"

"Promise!" Ark also said.

Tikal just laughed, planting a kiss on their foreheads. "Dinner will be ready soon so only a little."

"Thanks mama!" Crystal said as she and Ark hugged the orange echidna before speeding off into the living room. Tikal popped her head out to see them dumping the candy onto the floor. Shaking her head with a giggle, she made her way into the kitchen where her husband was sat on the table.

"Hey there," she greeted him with a peck on the cheek, "Were they good?"

"They were a handful today," Shadow answered with a worn out smile, "But otherwise, they enjoyed it."

"Mm I'm glad," Tikal said with a smile back and went to put her oven gloves on. "I made some treats today," she said as she got out a tray from the oven, "But seeing how much candy they've collected, it looks like I'll have to save it for tomorrow."

"Did you give out the candy?" he asked her, taking one of the pumpkin shaped cookies from the tray.

Tikal nodded. "The children were all so sweet!" she beamed before taking off her gloves. She saw him chew on the cookie, "Is it good?'

He grunted as his answer, indicating that it was.

She giggled before putting the cookies into a container. "I'm going to set up dinner in about ten minutes, so-"

"Crystal, that's not yours that's MINE!"

"No it's not! I remember Uncle Knuckles giving it to ME!"

"No he didn't!"

"Yes he did! So let go, Ark!"

"No, you let go!"

A loud crash was heard.

"MOM! DAD!" they both yelled.

Tikal quickly paused with the cookies and was about to go see what all the fuss was about, but Shadow's hand stopped her.

The black hedgehog shook his head. "I'll handle them," he said with a short exhale before standing up, "You get dinner prepared."

"Are you sure?" she asked, feeling a little worried.

Shadow nodded and he sauntered off into the living room. "Okay, you two..."

Tikal smiled after him, letting out a few laughs at how he managed to settle the kids down with no problem. Shaking her head once more, she put the rest of the halloween treats into the container before checking up on dinner.


	12. Christmas

_012\. Christmas_

"Mama, mama!" Ark excitedly pointed at the dwindling line, "We're almost there to Santa!"

Crystal grinned. "We can finally tell him what we want for Christmas!"

Tikal squeezed their hands gently. "Of course! Make sure you ask him politely though."

They beamed up at her. "Okay!"

The small family were currently waiting in line to meet Santa Claus at a Christmas grotto. Tikal thought of surprising the two when picking them up from school. It was a joy to see their faces light up when she told them and their excitement only made her happier.

Christmas was such a festive celebration to Tikal and still quite new to her. When she came out of the Master Emerald, it was near the time when people started to put decorations up in their houses and lighting the trees. She found it so fascinating that she had to ask Knuckles what it was all about.

 _"Well, my definition of Christmas is about gifting people with happiness and having a fun time with your family and friends!"_

It was just the definition that made Tikal happy the most. Seeing people excited and bubbly was all she wanted in her life and as years progressed, it just became even better.

When it was their turn to meet Santa, the giant red-coated man stood up from his chair with an apologetic look.

"Sorry kids, I'll be right back!" he said, disappearing into the back.

"Awww!" they sulked.

"We waited an hour, mama!" Crystal whined.

Tikal shook her head with a soft laugh. "It won't be long until he comes back."

Ark pouted. "But that could take foreverrrr!"

She forgot how impatient her children could be.

"Everyone needs to take a break," the orange echidna said, kneeling down to button up their loose coats, "Even Santa."

"So he can deliver everyone's presents on time, right?" Crystal asked.

Tikal giggled and nodded. "Right."

She stood up and her gaze immediately fell towards Santa... who looked quite different from before. He was more skinnier, like he had just lost a lot of weight. Her kids didn't bad an eyelash at the sudden change as they ran up to the man sitting on the big chair.

"Santa!" they cheered as they both scurried up onto his lap.

His deep voice clearly gave it away. "Hello."

She was taken aback and so Tikal closely inspected him, seeing if her suspicions were true. It was until he flickered his red eyes over to her, was when she realised who they belonged to.

Shadow.

She tried her utmost best not to be surprised and give everything away. Her husband... was dressed in a Santa costume. Something that didn't even dream of happening. How bizzare. Yet, here he was and it suited him so well that she couldn't help but bite her lip to prevent the laughter threatening to escape.

What really shocked her was that he was finally home. The last phone call she had with him was a while ago, where he had to do a non-stop three week mission. Tikal was honestly worried through that whole period, but made sure that wasn't shown to the children and instead comforted them whenever their father was mentioned.

 _"Everyone's dreams come true when it's Christmas!"_

And that was true indeed, seeing that her wish was right in front of her.

'Oh, dear,' Tikal thought in her head as she stifled a few chuckles behind her hand, 'This should be interesting...'

"What would you two like for Christmas this year?" Shadow asked the children, breaking the eye contact from her.

"Wellll," Crystal began putting her finger underneath her chin, "For Christmas this year, I want a teddy bear so my other toys have someone new to play with when we have a tea party!"

Shadow secretly cracked a smile. "I'll make sure to put that on my list then," he felt warmth against his chest when Crystal thanked him with beaming eyes before he looked over to Ark, "What about you?"

"I've been wanting this race track forever now!" Ark said with excitement, "It's super cool with really neat cars and motorbikes!" He began to make engine noises causing his sister to laugh.

The black hedgehog couldn't help but laugh along. "All right. Hopefully you've been good this year."

"Of course we have!" Ark nodded, "Mama taught us everything about Christmas and what it means!"

"Be kind and respectful!" Crystal added in, "And you'll have a wonderful Christmas!"

Tikal smiled at the scene before stepping closer to them. "Is there anything else you want to ask Santa?"

The children fell silent after that.

The orange echidna took a moment to stare at the both of them, taking in their solemn expressions. It seemed to have took a toll on Shadow as he seemed to notice the mood.

Tikal's look softened. "Tell him," she ushered them.

"W-Well," Ark stammered and looked up at Shadow, "It's just..."

Crystal noticed that her brother couldn't bring out the words properly. "We want Papa to come home for Christmas..."

Ark nodded. "That's all we really want."

"Really," his sister added on.

Seeing their sad faces made the black hedgehog's heart drop considerably. In his mind, he contemplated whether to strip off the costume and reveal that it was him. But the place was packed as it is and it would've been involuntary to do so. Shadow slowly glanced over to his wife and Tikal only pressed her lips with a light shrug.

"I'll send a message to your father so he could come home," Shadow said when looking back at his children.

Their eyes suddenly lit up. "Really Santa?!"

"Really."

"Do you promise?" Ark asked.

"I promise."

"Do you pinky swear promise?" Crystal questioned next, holding up her pinky and telling her brother to do the same also.

Shadow held up both of his pinkies to the two as they swirled their own pinky around it. "I pinky swear promise."

The siblings grinned as they went up to hug the man. "Thank you Santa!"

He smiled at the action before they jumped off of his lap.

"Crystal, let's go and see Mister Elf over there!" Ark pointed at the elf handing out a few presents to the other children.

"Okay!" Crystal looked back at Santa with a giggle before grabbing her brother's hand to go meet the elf.

"I'll be over there in a minute," Tikal called out to them. She turned to face Shadow who had just got up from the chair and started to walk into the back. Tikal slowly caught up with him as he stripped off the beard and moustache.

"That was really sweet what you did," she commented with amusement when he took off the red jacket.

"Yeah," Shadow said when he turned to her, "Even though I looked ridiculous."

"Oh hush," Tikal teased, "They didn't even know it was you."

He only rolled his eyes, a scoff following after. "But you did."

"Those red eyes don't fool anybody, Shadow," she giggled.

"I guess not," he stepped closer to her, his lips softly against hers, "I'll be home tomorrow night."

Tikal lifted her hand up and caressed his cheek. "I'll be looking forward to it," she whispered before pecking his lips.

...

The door bell rang.

Keeping the children occupied with their presents, Tikal quickly walked over to the door and opened it. Shadow quietly came in and shut the door, greeting her with a kiss.

"I know it's the winter season, but it was far too cold out there," Shadow stated as he slipped his shoes off.

"Don't worry, the house is opposite from that," Tikal laughed as she walked into the living room.

"Crystal, Ark," Tikal quietly called out to them. The two stopped playing with their toys and looked up at their mother.

She smiled. "Someone's here to see you."

Crystal and Ark's eyes widened when they saw the black hedgehog come into frame. Shadow stood there with a small smile, lifting up his hand to wave at them.

The two siblings were surprised. In fact they were so surprised that they discarded their toys onto the floor and with the speed they possessed, dashed up to their father.

"PAPA!"

Shadow quickly knelt down so he could catch them and pick the two up in a loving embrace.

"Papa I can't believe you're home!" the female hedgehog stated between tears, "Y-You're really home!"

"Of course he'd come home!" the little male echidna stammered when he lifted his head up from Shadow's shoulder, "S-Santa promised us!"

Crystal nodded, wiping off the tears from her eyes as she sobbed. "W-We missed you so much!"

Poor Ark kept on hiccuping when he cried. "Never leave us again!"

Shadow placed a kiss on each of their foreheads. "I won't," they looked at him with glistening eyes and he smiled, "I promise."

After one last hug, he put them down and let himself be dragged into the play area. He glanced up at Tikal, who wiped off some of tears out of sheer happiness. She caught his stare and smiled, insisting he'd go play with the children as she needed to get the food prepared.

"Look Papa! We got so much for Christmas this year!" his daughter beamed when she showed her the unwrapped presents and the teddy bear.

"You got the teddy bear you wanted," Shadow sat down and fiddled with the toy before gazing over to the race track, "And you got the race track you wanted, Ark."

"Mhm! We asked Santa and Mama was right, he does make our wishes come true," his son exclaimed, the echidna leaning himself onto him.

Shadow ruffled his head as yesterday's events filled his mind. "He does, doesn't he?"

"Honestly Papa," Crystal suddenly said sternly, "If the Commander makes you go away again then he'll have to get through me!"

"And me!" Ark joined in, copying his sister's pose.

His wife could be heard giggling from the kitchen.

"Really now?" he asked, amused with their confidence.

"Yes!"

Chaos Energy could be seen flowing out of them and it wasn't a surprise to Shadow. In fact, he was proud that they were even able to control it. Training was still needed, of course.

"Maybe I could use you two to get out of my early morning shifts then," he suggested, which earned eager nods from the siblings.

It actually made him burst out laughing. "With faces like that, it'll probably work."

...

Tikal saw Shadow come downstairs and turned off the T.V.

"Are they asleep?" she asked, watching him sit next to her on the couch.

"Fast asleep," he replied with an exhausted sigh, "They're more hyperactive than I remember."

"They haven't seen you in almost two months, Shadow," Tikal stated, cuddling up to him.

"I know," Shadow laid his chin on top of her head, "Just seeing them happy to see me was enough for Christmas."

Bewildered, Tikal pulled away. "You thought they wouldn't be happy?"

"I'll be honest, when they said they wanted me for Christmas... I was surprised," he exhaled, "After leaving for so long..."

Tikal shook her head. "I can't believe you would think that..."

"Can you blame me? I lied to them, saying that I'd be gone for a week," he frowned averting his look to her, "I just... I'm really glad they didn't think that way."

"Shadow," she spoke in her gentle voice, "They're your children, your own _blood_. They'd never get angry at you."

Shadow felt better hearing that. "Yeah," he intertwined their hands together, "I just love them is all."

She smiled back at him before tilting her head. "Did you mean it?"

He stared at her. "Mean what?"

"That you won't leave us again," Tikal remembered, her hand burying underneath his quills, "You did promise them..."

The black hedgehog paused for a moment before lifting her hand up, his lips brushing against her knuckles. "Promises are forever... right?"

She laughed lightly, his gesture fluttering her heart. "Yes..."

He steadily leaned into her lips as they gracefully connected. It was a long kiss, a hungry one at that. Being away from each other for so long caused some temptations to kick in. Tikal felt his hand slithering under her dress, rubbing her thigh.

She pulled away before they went any further. "Our room would be better, don't you think?"

Humming closely against her lips, Shadow placed one hand under her legs and the other on her back before lifting her up. "Merry Christmas."

Blushing, Tikal couldn't help but pull him down and capture his lips again. "Merry Christmas," she murmured, " _And welcome home..._ "


	13. Between you and me — Part I

_013\. Between you and me — Part I_

Being in a wheelchair was not a choice, as far as Tikal knew. She thought it was normal, until she saw the kids her age actually walking. The echidna remembered one time where she tried to stand up, but the teacher had scowled at her not to. Saying it was dangerous to do so, which was confusing when she was a little child.

It was when she was seven years old that she finally understood. Tikal remembered watching all the other kids in her class playing basketball and soccer, the girls on the trampoline doing multiple flips and bounces. They were all having the time of their life, laughing and smiling, while she was just aside, silently pleading to do the same.

On that same day, her mother was giving her a bath. And when she walked off to find her some clothes to wear, Tikal used all the strength she had and tried to stand up.

She smiled, almost laughing that she managed to accomplish the first step. Then she tried to move and...

Only to have realised her legs weren't working. At all.

Tikal had crashed back down into the water screaming, shampoo bottles tumbling over her like a vigorous water fall. Her mother came running in seconds later, looking distraught. Tikal was crying and wailing, as her mother tried to calm her down.

 _She couldn't walk._

Looking back at the memory now, the echidna knew it was such a silly thing to do. A silly thing to try out. It was no wonder she was kept out of doing sports, had help when she was taking a bath, to go to bed, to walk up the steps. All these fun and simple things she couldn't do and it limited her confidence dearly.

...

Tikal wasn't bullied during her high school years, nobody made fun of her condition. Though, she did get the title of being 'that girl in the wheelchair'. It was more of a sympathetic feeling that most people were giving her, in regards to looks and stares. The echidna didn't mind. She was on the only person that was on a wheelchair after all, so it didn't surprise her in the least.

College was a lot better though. People didn't call her by a title, they simply knew her as a normal student or Tikal. Whenever she would go into the library, there was always this warmth of acceptance and value. It was the same for any place really. The cafeteria, inside and outside of campus, all her classes. She was beyond happy.

There were a few exceptions though.

After a check up from the nurse's office, Tikal made her way through the empty corridors of the building so she could get to her class.

"Hey toots."

Grimacing at the familiar voice that echoed, she began to wheel herself faster.

 _Please leave me alone._

"Hey," the male voice called again as he blocked her way. Tikal quickly skid to a halt and nervously looked up at the green fox, "Are you deaf or something? Might as well add that to your list of 'things I can't do'."

Trying to have that comment not affect her, she swallowed down hard. "I-I'm sorry, but I really need to get to class..."

"What's the rush?" he grinned leaning down closer to her face, "You're already ten minutes late."

Tikal wheeled herself back slightly. "Yes, but-"

"Oh wait, you "special need" people can go to class whenever the hell you feel like," he retorted leaning back, "But then again, you're the only one who's on a wheelchair."

She was weak minded when such words were used on her. And she would never fight back because her heart would always tell her not to, seeing as it was pointless to do so.

"Disappointment."

Tikal solemnly averted her eyes down.

"What crap are you saying out loudly?!"

The echidna quickly dragged her gaze to see Knuckles walking over to them, a big unhappy frown on his face.

"Jack, leave Tikal alone," Knuckles said menacingly as he towered behind the fox.

Jack rolled his eyes and turned to him. "I'm not even doing anything."

"Cut the bullshit," her cousin glared at him, "And stay the hell away from her."

The fox scoffed. "Like I was ever going to continue wasting my time with someone like her."

Knuckles gritted his teeth. "Really? Because you've been doing the opposite lately."

Jack shrugged nonchalantly. "Wanted to see if she was still worth the time to talk to. Clearly I was wrong."

Ouch. That hurt.

Tikal bit her lip, her heart beating as those words were thrown at her. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene by letting loose her emotions.

"Get out," Knuckles put simply as anger flashed his eyes, "Before I rip your head off."

"With pleasure," Jack smirked giving her a glance before walking off to the other direction.

Tikal let out a big breath of relief as Knuckles came closer to her. "Thank you."

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," her cousin pondered, "I told Mrs Adams that I needed to use the bathroom so I could look for you."

"I-I just had gotten out of the nurse's office," she smiled faintly, "The check up took a little longer than expected."

"Oh," Knuckles nodded but then frowned, "...Are you okay?"

Her smile dropped. "He said a few things," she admitted knowing that Knuckles could read her so easily, "But they're not bothering me."

The red echidna let out a frustrated growl. "I can't believe the type of mentality that guy has," he scoffed, "If he ever comes near you again, I honestly won't hesitate and punch the living hell-"

"Knuckles!" Tikal shrieked, appalled by his choice of words.

Knuckles abruptly stopped his sentence. Defeated by Tikal's disapproving nature, he sighed. "Sorry..."

Tikal shook her head. "It's fine, Knuckles," she said before clutching on her wheels again, "Let's go to class?"

"Fine," he replied with a small smile as he went behind her to hold the handles of the wheelchair. She smiled back at him, relaxing herself on it as they began to make their way.

...

"Ugh, what a _jerk!_ " Amy barked at the lunch table, "Who does he think he is?!"

"Really," Tikal laughed nervously, "It's noth-"

"Tikal!" the pink hedgehog slammed both of her hands in front of her, "That _idiot_ insulted you because of who you are! That's not okay!"

Chaos. When Amy was angry, it meant that she was absolutely _livid_. Tikal always wondered how Sonic would manage to handle her in these sorts of situations.

"Let's not get too rash here," Blaze said calming her down before gazing over to Tikal, "Are you sure you don't want us to kick his face in?"

Tikal frantically shook her head. "Please don't."

"She won't even let _me_ do anything," Knuckles exclaimed, taking a bite of his apple, "I mean, he's a jackass to everyone. But it's like Tikal's his special opponent to bully."

Amy huffed and crossed her arms. "My hammer will be his special opponent if he doesn't stop."

"Count me in," Blaze chimed in, "I'm sorry, Tikal. But I'm not letting some fool think he can overpower you like that."

"I just don't think it's worth it," the female echidna said as she put down her sandwich, "I-I'm not saying that you guys shouldn't do anything, but please be careful..."

"The only one that has to be careful is him," Knuckles muttered gripping his apple a little too hard.

Tikal meekly intertwined her fingers as she noticed the tension. "I love you guys," she looked at them with a smile, "But let's not focus on it, please?"

They all looked back at her until they sighed together.

"You're way too kind, Tikal," Amy laughed, "But you're an angel."

She blushed at the compliment before shaking her head. "It's fine..."

"But you're right. As long as we're with you then it's no problem," Blaze stated with a smile, "Right, Knuckles?"

Her cousin rolled his eyes clearly not satisfied. "Yeah, yeah."

"By the way, have you guys started on the literature assignment yet?" Amy asked, swiftly changing the topic as she got out her laptop, "I'm honestly baffled on how to start."

"Sort of," Knuckles answered, "We've got three weeks to hand it in though so I'd rather not stress about it now."

Blaze agreed with him. "I just had to hand in my art project and that took way longer than expected," she said, "I'm sleeping on everything this weekend."

Amy rolled her eyes at their carefree attitude towards it and drifted her hopeful gaze over to Tikal.

She nodded with a gentle laugh. "I was able to write a page yesterday so I'll email it to you now."

"Thank you! Thank you!" her pink friend beamed with a few quick claps.

"Okay, now I feel small for not even starting it," Blaze groaned.

"Do you wanna go up to the library then?" Amy asked her, "We can start on it together."

"Sure," the purple cat replied with exasperation before standing up, "You guys wanna come?"

Knuckles turned his head to Tikal. "Do you?"

As much as Tikal wanted to go, she wanted to go outside and enjoy the fresh air. "You guys can go ahead."

"Are you sure?" Amy leaned in a little worried, "You've always loved going with us during lunch."

"The weather's just nice today," she responded with a smile, pointing towards the blue sky.

Amy followed her finger before looking back at her with a smile. "Mmm, all right! We'll see you guys later then!"

"See ya," Knuckles said as Tikal waved at her friends.

Once they were gone, Knuckles packed everything away and stood up. Like always, he went around and held onto the handles as he pushed her along.

"Do you need help with the literature assignment as well?" the orange echidna asked, leaning her head back to see him.

"I don't mind," Knuckles told her, "We can meet at the library tomorrow if you want."

She smiled. "Mm, I'd like that."

They exited the cafeteria and stepped outside. She took note of their surroundings. Since it was spring, the leaves of the trees and flowers bloomed out of their roots and beautifully shimmered across the campus.

"This makes me miss Angel Island a lot, ya know," her cousin stated as they strolled around.

"Yeah," Tikal agreed quietly, "I would love to go back someday and see the horizon."

Knuckles chuckled. "Same here."

As they went around some more, she had noticed that Knuckles had slowed down until he eventually came to a stop. Confused, Tikal opened her eyes and tilted her head up at him. He was looking off to somewhere so following where his eyes were, she landed her own to someone sitting on the bench nearby them.

"Didn't even know you were the type to be in public places like this," Knuckles called out to the stranger with a teasing tone.

The person lifted his head up from the book he was reading, already with a comeback. "It's called the 'Quiet Area', a place where _you've_ already been banned from."

Tikal's eyes widened.

She didn't think someone would talk back to Knuckles like that, knowing how much of a temper he had...

They began moving again and they went towards him. Tikal clutched onto her bag that rested on her lap. Usually, most of her lunch times consisted with the girls in the library or with Knuckles and herself alone. Meeting someone new was never common for her.

"You're not gonna yell at me, are you?" the stranger asked her cousin as they stopped by him.

"Nah, my cousin doesn't like it when I fight with people anyway," Knuckles stated as he looked over to her with a grin. She blushed and averted her eyes down.

"Oh," the stranger glanced at her and she felt it but didn't look back at him out of sheer shyness.

"Yeah," Knuckles laid his stuff down onto the table, "Tikal, do you wanna sit?"

She nodded, hoping her nervousness went unnoticed. The red echidna removed her bag from her lap and picked her up from the wheelchair, gently placing her onto the seat of the bench. Tikal smiled at him in thanks before unzipping her bag to get out her textbooks.

"Oh yeah, Tikal?" she heard Knuckles say. Tikal turned to him as he extended his hand out to point at the stranger, "This is Shadow. I used to have basketball practices with him after school."

Tikal slowly dragged her eyes to the ebony hedgehog and timidly nodded. "H-Hello."

"Hi," he greeted back at her. She gave him a small smile, almost mesmerised by his red irises for a moment before turning away to her book again.

Knuckles scratched the back of his head. "Tikal gets a little nervous when meeting new people..."

Tikal pressed her lips together.

"It's fine," Shadow's low voice told him. She could feel his eyes pierced onto her and for some reason, her breathing became a little quicker than she would've liked. When the feel of his eyes went, her heartbeat went back to normal and she didn't even notice that her fingers were shaking across the paper.

"So," Knuckles thankfully broke the awkward silence, "Coach told me your timetable got changed?"

"Yeah," Shadow grumbled, "But it's not all too bad except for having History at the end of the day today."

"That sucks," Knuckles stated, "Who do you have?"

"Mr. Anderson," the black hedgehog replied, making Tikal's ears twitch. Shadow rolled his eyes. "I heard he barely does anything in the class and just tells people to read their textbook."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow as he turned his head to Tikal. "Don't you have him today?"

She didn't lift her head up. "Yes..."

"Oh, then I guess he's not bad considering Tikal's never spoke about him that much," he told Shadow.

While it was true that Mr. Anderson never really paid attention to the class, the independent reading and learning wasn't much of a problem for Tikal. She was never for one to speak out when her other classes had a discussion. So to conclude, as long as she didn't have to talk as much or not even talk at all, she enjoyed her time in History.

She usually sat alone though, so having a new person in her class meant that it wouldn't be the case no more.

Tikal felt stupidly judgemental. A few minutes she had known him and there was already fear crawling within her. If wasn't like she could blame herself though. Ever since the situations in high school, she became very selective and careful with the people who wanted to become her friend.

But... if he was Knuckles's friend then she shouldn't be feeling this way, right?

"H-He makes us do the work on our own," Tikal said, surprised she even found the courage to speak, "I'm okay with it though..."

She heard Knuckles laugh as he ruffled her hair. "Of course you are!"

The female echidna couldn't help but let out a little laugh herself, flustered by the action. When he pulled his hand away, Tikal accidentally caught Shadow giving her a side glance, almost as if he was somewhat analysing her. It was becoming... uncomfortable. Was he always like this? Did... he not like her? She wouldn't blame him if that was the case...

Anxiously playing with her dreads, she broke off their contact once again and focused back on her book. This time, she was able to take in the words she wanted put in her head.

The conversation the two were having completely left her mind as she drifted into her own world. She didn't miss the remarks they gave each other though. It was like they were... enemies? But friends? She remembered Amy using the word 'frenemies' when talking about Rouge. She guessed that's what they were.

She never really spoke to Knuckles's other friends around the college. They were mostly from the basketball team, and people from there were really loud and sometimes obnoxious. She tended to stay away from them whenever they were around him. Amy and Blaze felt the same way so at least she didn't feel alone about it.

Checking the time on her wrist watch, Tikal closed her book. Looking in between Knuckles and Shadow, she gently tapped on her cousin's shoulder.

"I have class in six minutes," she stated as the echidna faced her, "C-Can we go?"

"Six minutes?!" Knuckles quickly stood up and placed her back on the wheelchair, "Shoot, my teacher is gonna kill me if I'm not there on time!" he turned to Shadow, "Do you mind taking her for me? You guys are in the same class anyway."

Tikal blinked at him. "B-But-"

"I'll pick you up after class, okay?" Knuckles began to run off, "See ya!"

She dropped her hand that she hopelessly held out after him. Knuckles had always taken her to her classes. If he couldn't, it was either Amy or Blaze. And since neither of them were here, she had to rely on someone who she barely knew.

"Here," he said, making her snap out of it. She looked up at him as he laid her bag down onto her lap.

"Th-Thank you," Tikal let out politely as she watched the hedgehog go behind her.

"You're welcome," Shadow simply replied as he started to push her along.

She took note of his blunt attitude. He was like that throughout his whole conversation with Knuckles. Most were one worded answers while others were solid sentences. She found it strange. It all felt so limited and stiff. She couldn't imagine Knuckles being friends with someone like him since he was the complete opposite.

Then again, opposites do end up becoming good friends.

His body language never really varied. She did take a few glances at him when she was down on the books and she will admit that he was somewhat... attra–

 _No._

Her cheeks bloomed with red again.

Chaos, why was she suddenly thinking like this? Where did that even come from? Pointing out small details from another person then having the audacity to call them attractive? She didn't even know him! But that was a habit of hers. For so many years Tikal had subtly analysed people who spoke to her friends. Not because she was jealous; it was because she was afraid they would judge her. She was insecure about so many things and having people like Jack only increased her insecurities even more.

But, Shadow was somewhat good looking. A few peaks at the bench couldn't deny her confession. It wouldn't be a shock if he was already with someone.

 _Okay, Tikal. That's enough. Don't try to pry into someone's privacy. That's none of your business,_ she told herself. _And especially keep away from having interests and dating in general._

She inwardly shuddered at her thoughts before noticing that they were entering the classroom. Since they were a few minutes early, no one really showed up until a little later. Mr. Anderson didn't really mind late comers as long as they do the work in the remaining time of class or after.

The old man smiled. "Good afternoon, Tikal," he greeted her before looking over to the hedgehog that accompanied her, "And you must be Shadow."

"Good afternoon," Shadow said plainly.

"Welcome to our class," he handed over a textbook, "You may sit next to Tikal."

The ebony hedgehog nodded, taking the textbook as Tikal wheeled along to the table that she was usually allocated in. The echidna carefully positioned herself and gently lifted up from the wheelchair and onto her seat. She forgot for a split second that Shadow was suppose to sit next to her, so when he sat down, she flinched. Though thankfully, he didn't notice her little freak out.

Two minutes later, a rush of students walked into the classroom. As soon as Mister Anderson told everyone to turn to the pages they were supposed to work on, Tikal zoned into her own world as she took down the key notes for her revision.

During that time, she heard several excited squeals and whispers from girls around her. She caught such things like, "He's so hot" and "He's so good at basketball" and so on. Obviously they were talking about Shadow. Who else? Since he was from the basketball team, it was no wonder that girls were fawning over him.

There were some... _other_ things they were saying. But Tikal didn't want to go into detail about that.

Whatever they were talking about seemed to be on deaf ears with Shadow as he wrote his notes down. Mr. Anderson occasionally stopped what they were doing to explain a few things about their current topic. The hedgehog always listened intently and once Mr. Anderson was done speaking, he'd immediately go back to writing with his cheek leaning against his hand.

Tikal had to admit she admired that. At least he had the passion to study.

Time went so quickly and when Mr. Anderson dismissed the class, she noticed that the females from a few seats behind them went over to Shadow.

"Hi Shadow!" a purple rabbit greeted him. She was accompanied by a yellow hedgehog who also seemed excited to see him, "We were wondering if you wanted to join us and go to Jack's party tonight?"

Just hearing that name sent shivers down Tikal's spine as she began to put her books away. She couldn't believe the fox had the decency to even invite her and her cousin along to the said party. Of course it all ended with ripping the invitation to pieces and Knuckles having a continuous angry rant about him.

"I'm not interested," he replied rather bluntly and then proceeded to roll his eyes, "And I'm not wasting my time with that asshole."

Tikal was taken aback by his hostile answer that she almost lost her gripping onto her wheelchair when she went to sit down. It caused a few shakes underneath the table and so it earned looks from the three of them. Not having the time to even spite herself for the clumsy action, she couldn't help but grimace at the slight pain from her wrist that had hit the edge of the table.

"Are you okay?" Shadow asked her, a tint of concern flashing his eyes. He looked more confused than anything.

She didn't respond. Instead, Tikal just blinked quickly and regained herself by wheeling away out of the classroom hoping that Knuckles was outside already.

She could feel their stares trained on her and she didn't miss hearing the mutters from those girls. "Weird" and "Strange" were the only words she managed to catch. Since the two were associated with Jack, it was no surprise to her but it still did hurt. A lot.

Tikal didn't realise that until she got out, there were tears streaming down her face. She stopped, sniffing quietly as she wiped them away with the back of her hands. Her phone buzzed from her bag and she got it out to see that her cousin sent her a text message.

 _Just finished class! I'll be there soon._

The echidna felt a little calmer when seeing it but it still didn't overwhelm the embarrassment and pain. She heard footsteps coming out from the classroom and just when she was about to move away, a hand on her arm rest stopped her from doing so. Tikal jumped as she slowly dragged her teary blue eyes to a pair of red ones.

"Are you all right?" the black hedgehog queried again, noticing her distress.

She stared at him for a moment and then quickly wiped away the other tears, sniffling once more. "Ye-," her voiced cracked involuntarily, making her pause. Tikal swallowed down her spit as she tried her best to calm her nerves. "Yes..."

Shadow didn't seem to believe her as his unimpressed look towered over her.

"Tikal!"

The two turned to see Knuckles jogging up to them. She tried to not make it noticeable that she had cried but it failed when Knuckles's face washed with worry.

"What happened?" he asked, caressing cheek but she only teared her puffy eyes away from him. Knuckles felt confused before flickering over to Shadow.

The hedgehog had his attention on the female echidna but it diminished when the two girls came out of the classroom. They smiled at him but Shadow steadily shot a glare at them, a deepening frown following afterwards. Their eyes widened at his angered look and they quickly scurried off, uttering a few words amongst each other.

Knuckles sighed. "Damn it. It's like I can't leave you alone without idiots like them annoying you."

Tikal wilted back. "It's okay..."

Shadow watched her as she adjusted herself onto the wheelchair. Even though she felt this, Tikal didn't have the strength to respond to it. She already cried in front of him. Showing the male more of her fragility would be unpleasant.

"C-Can we go?" she uttered to her cousin as she dried her tears up, "I want to go back to my dorm..."

Knuckles gently rubbed her shoulder. "Sure," he glanced at Shadow, "I'll see you at practice."

Shadow nodded. Tikal peaked at the hedgehog to see he was already doing the same to her. She blushed as their eyes locked for the second time. Her red cheeks deepened in their shade when she gave him a small genuine smile. His reaction stayed the same but a quick second twitch against his lips hadn't went unnoticed. The ebony male nodded at her also before he turned around and sauntered away. Tikal stared after him, her heart thumping against her warm chest.

"Let's go," Knuckles told her as he started to push her along, "Amy and Blaze are waiting for you."

"Is he always like that?" she suddenly found herself questioning.

"Who?" Knuckles arched an eye, "Shadow?"

"Yeah," Tikal nodded, "He always looks so... distanced."

"He's not exactly the type of guy you'd see everyday," the red echidna answered truthfully, "But he's good. He may not talk a lot but he's still good," he trailed his eyes down at her, "Why do you ask?"

"N-No reason," she blundered her cheeks betrayed her with pink again.

Knuckles shrugged. "Okay," he then went back to the situation, "Chaos, those girls-"

Tikal blanked out her cousin's words. Instead, her mind pondered off to Shadow. The hedgehog obviously wasn't very open to people but that didn't mean he lacked confidence. The way he bad mouthed Jack and shrugged off those girls proved that. He was very different from the guys she had met. Intelligent, calm and... _really good looking._

She didn't want to admit it just yet. But she did feel obliged to know him a little better. There was no resistance. ...Maybe being overly shy about it of course, but the feeling inside her heart didn't seem to disagree with her choice.

Tikal secretly smiled underneath her dreads.


	14. Second Thoughts

_014\. Second Thoughts_

She knew she was going to have an arranged marriage, marrying a stranger and expect herself to be with them for the rest of her life.

She just didn't think it'd be this soon.

The man whom she was marrying, did not look at her once. Even when both of their families introduced them to one another, their feelings were not mutual. Especially his. He showed that by not even noticing her when they walked passed each other during hallways, when their families came together for dinner. No word was spoken amongst them. No contact was felt against them. No love was connecting towards them.

There was _nothing_.

It was like she was trapped in this cage with him. She could be scared, screaming her lungs out or crying so hard that her eyes would swollen. And he'd just sit there... completely ignoring her with his back turned with deafened ears.

That's what it felt like. And it was all so _toxic_ to her.

The night before the wedding, she locked herself in the bathroom and let the tears finally fall. Uncontrollable sobs followed. She didn't want to disappoint her family, bring shame to her mother and father. Neither did she want to disappoint his parents either. Marriage was suppose to be a blessing, being with someone who you loved and stay with them for eternity.

She could never _hate_ a person, that wasn't in her nature. She couldn't hate the man. It wasn't his fault. But, she could hate him for being so careless. Not even acknowledging her as a person. No, it seemed he'd rather acknowledge her as a mere women who he'd have to marry for the sake of his reputation and his own family.

She felt angry. Her emotions were already over the place. She was never the one to get angry. But all of this was killing her and she had every right to let out a hoarse scream of agony.

Though, she could never let herself do such a thing. She was a calm person, quiet and timid. Shy and introverted. Letting everything loose would probably damage her heart and her own self. It wouldn't be healthy for her. Or so she would think.

Quietening down her sniffing, she closed her eyes as she comforted her face against her knees.

...

Tikal faked a smile when her mother was standing behind her in front of the mirror. She was in her wedding gown. It was a puffy one at that. It hugged her torso perfectly with the rest of it shimmering down like a snow fall. Her bride veil fell in front of her face and her hands were readily accompanied by a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

"Ready to go?" her mother asked as she adjusted her dress.

She wasn't ready to go. She wasn't ready to go out there and see him and then having to stand there opposite him. Because they'd have to look at each other dead in the eye while the vows were being said. It made her stomach churn.

"Yes," she replied quietly, trying to hide her frown underneath her veil.

Tikal was escorted down and entered the aisle. The guests stood up when she arrived. When all the stares were on her, the hand around her father's arm grew slightly tighter.

Through her veil, she caught his eyes with her own. They locked. But she averted them away when she walked up the steps to the front. She felt her father let go and take the flowers as she stood next to the man. When they were to face each other, they did. When they were told to hold their hands together, they did.

The vows were read.

And it all seemed like a blur.

"Shadow, do you take Tikal the Echdina to be your wife?"

"I do."

It sounded so emotionless.

"Tikal, do you take Shadow the Hedgehog to be your husband?"

"I do..."

Her voice was strained.

"You may now kiss the bride."

He lifted her bridal veil out of her face and stared at her, those ruby red eyes piercing against her frame. She shook lightly and almost resisted. He leaned in and their eyes closed together. Their lips touched for a few mere seconds. She was saddened that her first kiss was taken by a stranger. She was saddened that there was no love behind the kiss. Her heart ached and she tried her best to stay calm.

They pulled away and claps were heard.

He leaned away, disconnecting one hand from her while the other stayed latched on as they turned to face their audience.

She didn't look at anyone. Not even her parents. She smiled, only a little but it could've easily dropped if she had taken another glance at him.

She was hurting. _Everything hurt..._

...

Tikal wondered around the house as she set herself a cup of coffee down onto the coffee table. Seating herself onto the couch, she leaned over to get her book and opened her marked page.

The sound of the front door opening and closing came after.

She lifted her head up to see Shadow toeing off his shoes and walked into the kitchen without a word. She caught a glimpse of the dark circles underneath his eyes when he came back out. The echidna said nothing of it and trained her mind on the page.

His footsteps sounded up the stairs and it wasn't too long before the shower ran. It stopped after a few minutes and his footsteps came back down and she felt a dip on the couch from the other side. The T.V was soon turned on after, though the volume was put down since he knew she was reading.

"Would you like me to make you a cup of coffee?" she dared to ask him.

She would always ask him this after he'd come back from work. Their marriage might have been out of the ordinary, but it didn't stop Tikal from being concerned about the people around her.

His eyes teared away from the screen to pay his attention to her. "I'm fine."

It was the same answer he'd give.

"Did you eat?" Tikal pressed on.

"Yes," he answered, his head turning to the T.V again.

"Okay," she simply said, dipping back into her book.

Time had passed and she was getting tired. Marking her page, the echidna stood up with her mug and walked into the kitchen. Rinsing off the other dishes, she dried off before heading back to the living room.

"I'm going to bed now," she stated with a small smile, "Goodnight."

Shadow didn't look at her. "Goodnight."

Tikal turned away as her smile dropped, walking to the stairs and then up the steps. She washed herself off in the bathroom before dressing into her night gown. Taking a deep struggled breath, she laid down onto their bed as she pulled the covers over her.

The moon was out and it was the only thing she was looking at until her weariness took over.

...

Tikal was in the bakery to pick up a few treats. When paying, she felt an uncomfortable presence behind her. Turning her head to the side, she could only make out the being to be a tall grey wolf.

A spike of anxiety crept up on her.

She smiled at the worker before taking her things and walked out of the building. As she was walking, she could hear another pair of footsteps from behind. Tikal suddenly felt alert. Gripping onto her bag, she walked faster and what jumped her skin was that the footsteps also became faster and louder.

He was following her.

Letting out a shaken gasp, she turned a corner and made a run for it. Tikal didn't dare to look back as she let her legs do the work. Oh, why did she think it was a good idea to go out late in the night?! She should've known better!

She cut another corner and hid behind a brick wall, finally catching her breath. Peaking her head out from the wall, she caught the grey wolf slowly walking towards the wall and he caught her eyes.

Jumping her head back, Tikal made another brake for it. She was tired, her legs were becoming sore but that still didn't stop her from getting as far away possible.

When she ran, she caught a glimpse of red and black coming out of a building. Realising who it was, she ran faster. The hedgehog's eyes widened when he saw her but Tikal thought nothing of it and didn't think twice when she dropped her bags and ran into his arms.

She didn't care if she looked or sounded pathetic. She was so inexperienced to these situations, so _immune._

Tikal shook against his chest as she stammered out her words. "S-Someone's following me..."

Shadow stared at her, his hands holding her jittery arms. When he slowly looked forward down the street, he noticed the grey figure coming out of the corner she came from. The wolf stopped his walking when he saw the echidna but then his eyes travelled across to the black hedgehog. Shadow shot him an icy glare and the wolf immediately backed up, his hands in defence.

"Leave," the hedgehog scowled at him.

The wolf snarled back at him, sucking in his teeth as he turned the other away and sauntered off.

Shadow's glare eventually disappeared. He flickered his eyes down at the echidna. "Are you okay?"

Tikal didn't reply. She was too busy shamelessly staining his shirt with her new formed tears. She was obviously still so shaken with what had just happened. If he wasn't there, who knew what would've gone on. The echidna eventually leaned away from him, wiping off her eyes. "I'm sorry..."

His lips hardened into a line before he knelt down to take a hold of her dropped bags. "What are you doing out here this late?"

She averted her watery eyes. "I-I had a late shift and stopped by at the bakery..."

He frowned. "You should've called me. I would've picked you up from there."

"I know," she replied, slightly surprised by his concern, "I-I'll remember that for next time."

Shadow squinted his gaze at her but it didn't stop him from taking her hand. "Let's go home."

He turned away and began walking, pulling her along. Tikal blinked at the sudden gesture from the hedgehog and glanced down at their hands.

Her eyes softened.

...

Nightmares were sometimes frequent. This was no exception.

Tikal quickly sat up on her bed breathing heavily. She trembled against her covers as small beads of sweat ran down the side of her face. She sighed softly, rubbing her temples in order to calm herself down.

"What's wrong?"

She should've been scared when she heard him. "N-Nothing..."

The echidna slowly turned her head to see his tired eyes through the dark as he sat up. "You've been fidgeting lately," he uttered, "What is it?"

Tikal didn't realise she was gripping onto the sheets. "Please Shadow," his name sounded so foreign against her tongue, "Go back to sleep."

Something in her head told her that she didn't want his comfort. That she didn't _need_ his sympathy. It wasn't like he'd be doing it for her sake anyway. Probably for the sake of their marriage and to keep their parents happy. He didn't even want to look at her at their wedding. So that said something.

So _why_ was he being concerned? The stalker incident was just one thing. But this was becoming another? She didn't understand.

Tikal lifted the covers off of her and got up from the bed. Padding her way downstairs, she entered the kitchen and filled up a glass of water. Her lips touched the rim of the glass as she slowly gulped down the water. With some nearby wipes, she dabbed them on her face to remove the sweat.

Feeling weary, she couldn't help but collapse onto the couch. She would have rather made her way back up to their room again but she was just so sick and tired. It wasn't too long before her eyes shut.

She wasn't sure if she was still dreaming, but she did feel a pair of arms lift her up.

...

They were both going out of the house at the same time.

"Where are you going?" Shadow asked her, sat on the staircase when putting on his shoes.

Her hand paused on the doorknob. Quite frankly, she was getting tired of the sudden constant questions and concerns. Couldn't he go back to being the person who saw her as just a woman and not his wife? Why did he think all this small talk would get them anywhere? Was he trying to make this marriage seem like it was normal?

"Stop," she whispered, closing her eyes, "Just stop..."

He stood up. "What?"

"Stop!" she yelled as she turned around to face him, "You don't care about me! So stop acting like you do! I just-!"

Tikal stalled on her words, her blue irises widening. Now wasn't the time to be doing this. Now wasn't the time to get emotional, in front of him.

But she couldn't stop.

"You don't even want me!" she cried, her breathing quickening, "You never did!"

Her outburst surprised him as she saw he was taken aback by her angered tone. But she didn't care. She tried. She tried her hardest to make him notice her as Tikal. But all he did was push her away and went on about his own life.

She saw him walk towards her and she immediately stammered back. "D-Don't come near me..."

"You're overreacting, _Tikal,_ " he stated bluntly.

Her stomach twisted into knots. He hadn't said her name since their wedding. If she had the time to be surprised by it, her heart would've at least fluttered.

He reached out for her arms but she only resisted against his hold.

"L-Let go of me!" Tikal whimpered.

Shadow didn't and his look was stern. She should've been afraid, knowing how daunting he could really be but thought nothing of it.

She sobbed, gritting her teeth as she glared up at him.

His frown deepened and she could've sworn she saw a flash of hurt in his eyes. But she didn't care, thinking it was just her imagination. She was the one who had been hurting the most. She was the one who had to put up with his cold behaviour. She was the one who had to put up with his disinterest of her.

 _She was the one who accidentally caught feelings for him._

He leaned in, but Tikal only leaned back. Shadow then took hold of her waist, an action that froze her into place. Her eyes steadied against his chest before they slowly dragged up to his lips.

The echidna didn't know what to think. His eyes were daunting her, almost commanding her to do something. But she dared to stay still. His face leaned in again, even closer.

And it wasn't too long before she felt his lips intoxicating hers.

...

When Tikal sat down next to him, she immediately apologised. "I'm sorry."

He was reading. She wouldn't interrupt him when he was reading. But she did anyway this time.

"It's fine," he said.

But his attention wasn't on her.

The echidna's lips quivered. "Please look at me..."

Her soft plead surprised him, just the slightest. Shadow slowly shut his book, putting it aside before he finally travelled his eyes to her.

"I'm... really sorry for the way I acted," she said sincerely, "I... I-I shouldn't have said any of that."

He stared at her, his lips thinning. "I deserved it."

Tikal shook her head. "You didn't..."

They looked at each other, a moment of silence in the living room. She couldn't help but fidget in her position, twiddling her thumbs as her unwanted bashfulness tingled through her body.

She saw his hand reach out to her, his thumb carefully brushing against her lips. Tikal's eyes widened, a vivid red blush tinting her cheeks.

Her mind went back to their kiss. She wondered why he had done that. Presumably to calm her down. But she felt as if there was more to it. As if he felt remorseful or sympathetic.

Flustered, she leaned away and stood up, trying her best to ignore his powerful stare. "I-I'm going to get started on dinner..."

She scurried off to the kitchen, her heart racing more than she would've liked.

...

After Tikal dried off her dreads, she wrapped a white towel around her naked body. Padding her bare feet to the door, she made her way out of the bathroom.

Just when she turned the corner to their bedroom, she abruptly made a halt when she saw Shadow tiredly walking towards her direction. He hadn't noticed her yet for he was rubbing his eyes, but when he did, she stiffened on the spot.

His black orbs shot over to her before they steadily roamed down the rest of her body.

Tikal clutched part of the towel that covered her chest as she squeaked.

"S-Sorry!"

She dipped her head down and quickly walked past him. But his hand gripped on her arm. Her eyes widened but before she had the time to panic, she was pinned against the wall. Tikal winced at the impact, her teeth grit as she looked at him with the slightest fear clogging in her stomach.

"Sh-Shadow?" Tikal stammered.

His eyes were flickered with longing lust and they glistened when they travelled to her lips. She didn't have the strength against her other palm, and she could feel her grip loosen on the closure she made with her towel.

The black hedgehog uttered a curse against his breath and crushed his lips onto hers. A gasp flew out of her mouth at his roughness and the temptations filled her mind. Did he know what he was doing? She didn't know if he was in the right state of mind, but she knew Shadow wouldn't do something without reason.

Their chest clamped together and Tikal took the risk to let go of her towel and hesitantly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in even closer so it wouldn't slip off.

She heard him growl lowly, and it almost made her pull away in worry but he held her arms and locked them above her head, taking full advantage.

The echidna felt weak and her eyes turned hazy. He nipped on her bottom lip, ravishing down her neck. She shivered when he pecked soft kisses on her skin, taking in the warmth of his tongue on her cold body. His half-lidded eyes trailed back up onto her lips and then took them in his once more. Tikal immediately kissed him back this time, their lips passionately dancing with each other's.

When he finally pulled away, she forgot about her towel. So when she panicked again, and realised that it was slipping off, Shadow's hand stopped it from doing so. Tikal pursued her lips and she was sure her cheeks betrayed her, feeling the heat coming off of them.

She gripped on her towel again as he let go of it. The echidna nervously glanced up at him when his hand played with her dreads.

When he noticed that she was looking at him, she smiled lightly, unsure of what else to do. To her surprise, she saw his lips twitch upwards before he really did smile back. He leaned off of her and walked away into the bathroom without a word.

She bit her lip, feeling giddy yet happy as she stepped into their room.

...

It was her birthday.

She did have a girl's outing with Amy and Blaze. The two of them showering her with gifts, even though she said she didn't want anything more than to just hang out with them.

Knuckles and Rouge stopped by to give her their gift and they stayed around for about an hour to give her some company, which she was grateful for. Rouge had tendency to tease her about Shadow and Knuckles would have to tell her off. The two did bicker from time to time but Tikal didn't mind. It was actually laughable how they even got together in the first place.

Her parents were on holiday but she did manage to video chat with them as they sang her a happy birthday. She had a few laughs before they told her they had to go, saying that a present for her would be delivered in the coming week.

Chao were something she loved dearly.

So when Shadow came back from work, he offered to take her to the Chao Garden for the rest of the day.

It was a beautiful place, the happy chao gathering up together to present her a flower-made crown. She giggled as she sat down on her knees, the cute blue creatures flying up to place the crown on her head.

"Thank you," she told the small group with a bright smile.

"Chao!" they all happily beamed before they flew off to play in the small pond.

Tikal smiled again after them. Seeing how late it was already, she stood up, dusting the dirt off her skirt and trailed her gaze over to Shadow.

He had kept his distance, to say the least. She thought perhaps that he wasn't very fond of the adorable blue creatures. The echidna probably saw why though. The man was very introverted when it came to these sorts of things.

She gently shook his shoulder. "Shadow, it's getting late..."

Shadow slowly opened his eyes, rubbing them before he trailed his gaze to her. "It is?"

"Yes," Tikal nodded.

He turned his head to the chao. "Did you play with them?"

Tikal only nodded again. "Thank you for bringing me here..."

The hedgehog stood up, adjusting her flower crown as he shook his head. "It's fine."

She gave him a small smile when he started to walk. He stopped though and looked back at her, lending out his hand.

Tikal blinked at the gesture. They had never walked hand-in-hand so casually before. She reached out for his hand and their fingers intertwined immediately.

"Happy Birthday," he muttered underneath his breath when they started walking.

She blushed, smiling as she leaned forward onto his back.

...

"My, my Tikal darling, you look absolutely stunning!" her mother-in-law complimented when they were sat onto the dinner table.

They were having dinner at his parents' house.

"Th-Thank you," Tikal replied bashfully, sitting beside Shadow.

Mrs. Hedgehog smiled. "Has Shadow been treating you well?"

She went back to a couple of days ago. After going to the Chao Garden, he treated her with a cake he bought from the bakery she'd usually go to. He then actually stayed up with her to watch some of her favourite Disney films. She didn't think he'd particularly like those sorts of films but she was mildly surprised and happy that they talked about them after watching each of them.

Their relationship suddenly became an improvement. Perhaps if she hadn't lashed out on him a few weeks ago, none of it would've happened. Still, she felt bad with what she had said to him. And she could still remember the hurt in his eyes. There was always a pool of regret in her stomach whenever she'd talk to him.

"Yes," Tikal said softly, taking a quick glance at Shadow before looking back at her mother-in-law.

"Of course he has!" another female voice chimed in as she set two glasses of water down in front of the couple.

The echidna lifted her head up to see a blonde girl grinning and sat down next to her. "I'd kill him if he wasn't!"

Tikal couldn't help but smile at that. Maria was Shadow's childhood friend and when their families were introduced to each other, her and Tikal quickly became friends. She was a lovely spirit, kind and energetic. Maria was much like her own in many ways.

Mr. Hedgehog took a seat next to his wife. "Let's not ask such questions like that, dear," he told her and smiled at Tikal, "They're obviously happy together."

Tikal shyly smiled back at him as they began to eat. Shadow hadn't said anything over the course of any of it, probably because his parents were asking her the questions. Her leg shook nervously. She wasn't good at these things and having people ask her questions directly opposite her was really pressuring.

She felt Shadow's hand squeeze her thigh underneath the table and she instantly calmed down. The echidna gave him a side glance, but he wasn't looking at her. Instead, he kept rubbing her thigh when she spoke to them.

It was such a sudden intimate gesture that Tikal had to refrain from blushing too hard.

"Okay," Maria started out as she dragged Tikal upstairs into her room after the dinner, "I know your birthday was last week, but I managed to get you something anyway!"

"You didn't have to..." Tikal said quietly, watching the girl getting out a gift bag from her closet.

"Don't be ridiculous, Tikal!" she waved off as she handed her the bag.

The echidna steadily took it from her and peaked inside. "Is this is the perfume set I said I was going to get?"

Maria just winked at her. "Yup!"

"Thank you so much," Tikal said smiling and gave her a hug, "Still, I could've bought it with my own money..."

The blonde girl shook her head before her face softened. "So, how are things...?"

There was concern in her voice because she knew about her feelings. Tikal couldn't ever hide them from her. Maria was the first person to check on her when she went to the lady's bathroom on their wedding day. She cried on her shoulder for what seemed like forever.

"G-Good," the echidna blundered but Maria gave her a look saying that she didn't buy it. She sighed softly. "I shouted at him."

Maria was surprised at this. "You did?"

Tikal nodded, feeling somewhat ashamed. "I didn't understand why he wanted to care about me going out," she explained, "The first few weeks, he barely spoke to me."

She tilted her head. "Oh."

"I-I didn't want to say those things to him," Tikal averted her eyes away, "But I couldn't stop and he told me I was overreacting and..."

"And?"

Tikal blushed, putting a strand of her dreads behind her ear. "H-He just kissed me..."

"Oh wow!" Maria let out, clutching her shoulders, "He kissed you?!"

"Y-Yes," she replied, embarrassed.

The blonde girl grinned. "Maybe he's opening up to you," Maria rubbed her shoulders, "And actually sees you as his wife."

"You think so?" the echidna queried, her stomach doing backflips.

"I know so!" she said confidently, "Shadow's stubborn as hell when it comes to that sort of stuff anyway! You should talk to him about it."

Her mind wondered to his recent intimacy with her. "I guess," she said, "But I still feel bad for it..."

"Oh, Tikal," Maria playfully rolled her eyes and giggled, pulling her along the bed. "Let's have some girl slash prep talk!"

...

Tikal yelped when the knife slipped off her fingers. She hissed when she realised the blood coming out of her fingers. Getting drown in your own thoughts while cutting vegetables was _not_ the greatest idea.

"What?" Shadow's voice echoed near her. He turned around from the sink and saw her fingers, "Oh."

She helplessly grabbed some tissue from the box so that the bleeding wouldn't spill onto the counter.

"Hold on," he said, walking around the counter to get the first aid kit out of the cabinet. Shadow nodded off to the staircase. "Come."

Tikal obediently followed him along and sat down onto the staircase. "It's not that bad..."

He ignored her and knelt down, bringing out the ointment. He squeezed some out onto his finger before taking a hold of her hand, gently dabbing the cream on her skin. She pressed her lips together, blocking out the potential winces she didn't want herself to make in front of him. Once the cream was applied, Shadow teared a long piece from the band aid roll and carefully bandaged her fingers, the stain of the blood just seeping through it after.

Tikal stared at it before looking at him. "Thank you."

Shadow started to put everything away. "Just get some rest. I'll handle the cooking."

She bit the side of her bottom lip and watched him stand up. Just when he was about to walk away, she reached for his arm with her free hand. "W-Wait."

He stopped and turned around. "Yes?"

"I want to talk to you," Tikal said, a hint of plead in her voice. She didn't bother asking. Maria told her to be straight forward and that was exactly what she wanted to do. "Please?"

Shadow dragged his gaze down her hand until he let out a sigh, putting down the kit as he sat down next to her. "What is it?"

Tikal pushed away the barriers in her thoughts, gulping as she did so. "Are you happy with me?"

He stared at her, his face not shifting. But it almost looked like he was struck across the face. It made the echidna rethink her choice of words. Shadow frowned. "Why are you asking me this?"

She blushed. "B-Because I want to know," Tikal stammered, locking their eyes, "If you're not, then-"

"You'll just deal with it?" he finished off for her, abruptly cutting her off.

"N-No!" she blundered now panicking, "I'll just-!"

"Tikal," Shadow interrupted her once again, "I _am_ happy with you."

Tikal lost her words and stiffened. "You are?"

"I learned to be," the black hedgehog explained, completely nonchalant, "I didn't want to get married. I was never in a relationship prior to everything either."

This was news to her. "Really?"

"Yes," he nodded, "But my parents didn't want me to be alone for the rest of my life so I just agreed to marry you to get it over and done with."

"Oh," she let out, taking in the new information, "So... you don't hate me?"

"I can't hate you if none of this was your fault," Shadow stated before raising an eye, "I thought us kissing would've explained that anyway."

Tikal turned red again and looked away. "You barely spoke to me before," she said quietly, "So I had that assumption."

He shook his head. "That was because I thought _you_ hated _me_."

She quickly faced him. "You thought that?"

"Marrying a man who glues a frown onto his face everyday?" he nodded. "Yes, I did."

She couldn't help but giggle at that. He was funny when he wanted to be.

"I wouldn't have gotten the message if you didn't say it," he then said and Tikal knew he was talking about that day, "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry too," Tikal shrugged a shoulder, "I never knew you felt that way."

"I'm just new to this sort of thing," he gave her a small smile back, lifting up her injured hand see her fingers.

She look softened at him, glancing down at their hands. "Have you... ever thought about having children?"

"Children?" he queried gazing back up at her.

"Y-Yes," the echidna stammered shyly, "Have you ever thought about becoming a parent one day?"

"Sometimes," Shadow answered truthfully, "...How many would you like to have?"

Tikal smiled. "I-I don't mind," she leaned into his chest, "As long as I become a mother, numbers won't matter."

"I can see you being one," he said, his chin resting on her head, "I can't really see myself as a father. Raising children is hard work, you know."

"No, I can see you becoming a father," she found the confidence in saying before looking up at him, "A loving one at that."

She saw his muzzle slowly go red at her words and laughed.

"We'll discuss this later," he muttered, embarrassed and got up, "Go and rest."

When he was about to make his way back to the kitchen, she spoke. "Shadow."

He sighed and turned to her again.

She smiled, standing up so she could hold both of his hands. "Do you take me as your wife?"

Shadow blinked. "What do you-"

He stopped when her smile only widened, her blue eyes beaming. When realising what she was doing, he smiled down at her. "Yes," he lifted her bandaged hand and brushed his lips along her knuckles, "Do you... take me as your husband?"

Tikal wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer. "Yes."

He smirked before his thumb brushed her lip. "I may kiss the bride?"

"You may," she said, grinning when his lips toppled over hers.

...

"Dad! Dad!" two young muffled voices were heard from the corridor of Shadow's office.

His attention dissolved from his computer as the door busted open. The black hedgehog spun around his chair as he readily caught the two figures onto his lap.

"Hello," he said to them before giving them a frown, "What are you two doing here? You know you're not suppose to-"

"Crystal! Ark!" a worried voice rushed into the room. Shadow looked up to see Tikal, hands on her knees as she breathed heavily. The echidna thanked the female officer beside her before she said it was fine. The officer nodded and walked off, leaving Tikal to look at her children.

"What did I tell you two about sneaking in here?" she exasperated with a disappointed look, "It's not safe!"

"But mommy, you said that daddy would hang out with us today," Ark said innocently, leaning against his father's chest.

Tikal's face dropped into a soft one. "I know, but I said he could play with you after he comes back from work."

"Mama, that's no fun!" Crystal pouted, "We wanna play with papa now!"

The puppy dog eyes they were giving her was something to not be fought against. Giving up on trying to make them understand, Tikal sent a hopeful gaze to Shadow.

Obviously Shadow couldn't get out of this one. It was so unfair. He sighed. "Come on, let's go."

"Really?!" Crystal and Ark said simultaneously.

He had to let out a little laugh because of that. "Yes," he stood up as he put them down, "You guys said you wanted to go to the arcade right? Well, let's go then."

"Yay!" they bounced up and down whilst holding his hand and began to drag him out of his office.

He and Tikal exchanged looks and they smiled at each other before Ark grabbed her hand and pulled her along too.


	15. a pleasant greeting

_015\. a pleasant greeting_

Shadow doesn't pay any attention to his co-workers at work. _God no_. Most of them didn't seem to grasp the concept that working in an office meant you were supposed to be _quiet_ and actually _concentrate_ on your papers and reports... as well as taking in charge of the constant phone calls from their consumers.

Sometimes he stayed till late. Why? Because he liked finishing his work, and to be honest, he was a perfectionist when it came to writing. He wanted it to stand out and for it to be errorless. Also due to the fact that he liked doing two days of work in one so he wouldn't have to come in the next day. It was a smart strategy he tend to have the habit of doing.

He had to roll his eyes at the sniggering females near him though. The hedgehog never bothered to eavesdrop nor did he even care about the topics they were discussing. However, when you had girls that just wouldn't _shut up_ about the people they fancied or their general love life, things can get a little irritating and in the end, he'd want nothing more than to just go home and sleep.

...That wasn't to say he was _jealous_ or anything. Being in a relationship was certainly not on his list at this time. He tried. Yes, he _tried_ to at least go on a date. But that was because Rouge was tired of seeing him becoming a "loner" as years went on. She set him up with a random female from their high school and it didn't work. His date was obviously interested in him but he never reciprocated the interest back at her. She was pretty, he couldn't deny that. But they had nothing in common and the fact that everything seemed so forceful on him, he just had to end it right there and then and just blurt out that nothing was working between them.

She was angry, of course. But he couldn't even find the hopes to care and just walked out of the restaurant in his usual stoic manner.

No male would ever do that to a female. But Shadow didn't regret his actions and though he was scowled by his batty friend, it didn't really change his mind set at all.

And hey, at least he was being the gentleman and _paid_ for the food.

So all in all, he found relationships to be too complicated and time consuming. Really bothersome. He'd rather wait a few more years till he found the right person he wanted to be with.

But he was undeniably still sort of pissed off that nearly everybody around him was with someone.

He groaned quietly. Why was he even thinking about this? He had work to do!

Screw his brain sometimes.

And screw those girls too.

Rolling his eyes once more, he trained them onto his computer screen and began to read over what he wrote, typing a few more lines when he was able to.

A few pleasurable sips from his coffee kept him up too. Thank god he remembered to bring his flask in. Cold coffee definitely did _not_ satisfy him in the least.

"Shadow?" a voice called him, disrupting his paper. Making sure to hit save, the black hedgehog turned his head to face a silver figure.

"Yeah?" He had to admit, he regarded Silver as one of his closest friends. Especially when it came to work. He found himself going to the hedgehog whenever he was to ask something about the latest report and vice versa. He could be clumsy at times but surprisingly, Shadow didn't at all mind. Probably because his friend actually focused his head down and did his part for the company.

"Boss told me to tell you that we've got somebody here to be interviewed," Silver said, "I was suppose to do it, but Blaze isn't feeling well and I gotta pick her up and look after her," he sheepishly smiled, "So looks like it's all on you."

He arched an eye, a pint of irritancy swelling against his skin. "And you chose me because...?"

Silver just grinned. "Might as well be more sociable for once."

Okay, that was uncalled for.

Did he really have to interview someone? He had done it before, but he found it to be utterly boring and the same old questions he had to ask were annoying and absolutely exhausting. Hell, he didn't even think he'd need the question sheet since he practically memorised all twenty of them.

Work loved to punish him. Shadow rarely spoke unless he was needed to. Other than that, he never really spoke to anyone except for Silver and Tails. You know, since they were the most calmest of his batch of annoying co-workers.

But since he was instructed to do so— speak to a complete stranger, _again_ , then he couldn't dodge this one at all. This was his life after all.

"Fine," he said, albeit, grumpily.

"Awesome!" Silver proceeded to put his jacket on and smiled, "I'll see you on Monday!"

"Bye," Shadow responded, watching him walk away before slowly looking over at his mini shelf. He scanned for the green question sheet and pulled it out, with agony he might add.

Ugh. Thank Chaos it was Friday because if it was any other day, he'd probably have gone insane. Rather uncharacteristic of him, really. But he honestly would have. Shadow did not have the patience to waste another half an hour or more to interview someone who may not even get to work here. It's happened before and he probably wasted about- actually, let's not even _go_ to think about how many hours he has had drained out of his life. Because he did not want to have a mental break down.

Letting out a stubborn huff, he wrapped one hand around his coffee whilst the other held the green piece of death. Grumbling a few mutters, Shadow made his way down to the room where the interviewee was going to be at. Once he was there, he stopped in front of the door.

 _Hopefully this is quick._

He opened the door, it creaking when he did so. The first thing he saw was orange dreads, most likely that of a female echidna's. Shadow hummed and as just the door was closing behind him, the girl lifted her head up from the paper she was reading.

And was his feet glued to the ground or something? Because he suddenly couldn't move.

 _You've got to be kidding me..._

What. In. The. World.

...She was _gorgeous_.

"H-Hi, sir," she greeted him with a pair of beautiful blue eyes, a nervous yet polite smile forming on her lips.

Shadow nearly died.

Even her _voice_ was from the dear heavens.

What the _hell?_ Was this even real?

Was Shadow the Hedgehog really fawning over some beautiful stranger? Did Silver prank him? Was this some sort of joke? Or a dream? Please let it actually not be a dream! He'd be damned if it was.

Shadow closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, telling himself to snap out of this horrendous nonsense. When he opened them again, she was still there, looking genuinely confused by his sudden unusual behaviour.

Okay, she was real.

Shadow cleared his throat. "Apologies," he said awkwardly, heat threatening his cheeks as he sauntered his way to the desk. He sat down with his flask and sheet and gestured her to the seat opposite, "Please sit."

She nodded, her shy and nervous posture coming back again as she stood up and sat down onto the seat. Her folder was curled tightly against her hands before she held it out to him.

"Thank you," he said, taking the blue folder. Shadow opened it and first took a look at her CV. "So... your name is Tikal?"

The orange echidna nodded once more, letting out a small smile. "Yes."

 _Hum. What a beautiful name._

"Thank you," he heard her say.

He snapped his eyes over to her. "What?"

She blinked before a tinted blush heated her cheeks. "Y-You said my name was beautiful..."

Did he actually say that out aloud?!

Oh god, what would she think of him now? The fact that a complete stranger told her that, she must've thought that he was some sort of a pervert. Which he was absolutely _positively_ not.

Noticing his small distress, Tikal just laughed softly. "It's okay."

Shadow quickly dissolved his attention back onto her CV again, the embarrassment evident on his face. Maybe that was why he couldn't get himself into a relationship. He was a total sap in front of women like her. Well, this was the first kind of female he had ever confronted. Kind and gentle. Not gossipy and annoying. Then again, he couldn't judge right now. She could be totally different in front of other people. Though, Shadow couldn't find himself to believe that.

The hedgehog looked at her. "You want to become a graphics designer for Sonic Essentials, correct?"

He had to cringe when he said the company name. Okay, Sonic the Hedgehog was their mascot for their products. Hair products, clothing, shoes. You name it. He was on it. But the fact that he was working for a company that had his arch rival _everywhere_... it was basically the most infuriating thing ever.

"Mm," she replied, "If you turn over... I-I've done some concept drawings."

He heard the lack of confidence in her voice when she said that. Nevertheless, he flipped the next few pages and was... impressed. Very impressed. She designed such things like logos and pictures with a unique colour palette for all of them. He turned over some more to see her work being digitalised as well. Good use of photoshop. Good use of a tablet. Nice line art and detailing.

He could see her working for a massive company like this.

And he should really start asking the questions. "What made you want to become a graphics designer?"

"My mother," Tikal told him before she elaborated further, "My mother was one when she was still working," she smiled, "She sort of made me follow into her footsteps. She never pressured me though. But I happened to love drawing and editing because of her so I took up a course in graphics design in University."

"That's nice," he couldn't help but say. Following another person's footsteps was always a valid attribute when working for a business, "Do you draw in your free time?"

"Yes," she answered him and then blushed, "I-I kind of go overboard when I do and end up with ten pieces in one night."

Shadow chuckled at that. "You're passionate about it. That's exactly what we would want."

Tikal played with her dreads, something he had caught on whilst being in this room with her. "Thank you, sir..."

"Shadow," he said.

She stopped playing with her hair and stared at him, blinking. Blinking adorably. "I'm sorry?"

"My name's Shadow," he repeated himself, gazing at her, "Such pleasantries like that are denied."

Just the slightest, the echidna tilted her head at him. Shadow suddenly began to eat his words. Okay, maybe making a witty remark like that wasn't such a good idea.

To his surprise, she was giggling. It wasn't like the horrendous giggles that he'd hear from the girls in near his desk. It was rather a pleasant sound, gentle and innocent at that.

"Are you always like this?" she asked him as her giggles died down, "You seem like the person who wouldn't make such comments like that..."

Shadow was fully taken aback by the sudden judgement. "You don't think I would?"

He should've just ignored her and continued on with the other questions. That's what he would've done with anyone else. However, she was interesting him already. Looked like there was more than what met the eye.

Blushing at his intense stare, her lips fumbled but that didn't stop her from saying her next words. "No. But if you don't, you should a lot more," her radiant smile came on again, "It suits your grumpy face."

To hell with the questions. This girl was clearly more worthy to have a conversation with.

"What? Do you expect me to smile every day when I step into this building?" he genuinely asked her.

Tikal's eyes beamed. "That would be nice."

"Nice? I don't really think so."

"You don't think so?" she questioned but then grinned, "But when grumpy people smile, it turns out to be really pretty."

Shadow squinted. "You calling me a grumpy person makes it seem as if I'm old."

"I wasn't implying that actually," she pressed her index finger against her lips, "... Are you?"

He scoffed. "I'm twenty two."

"So am I," she answered, feeling amused by his change of attitude, "And I meant what I said."

"About what?"

"That you'd look prettier if you smiled a lot more."

It was his turn to blush again.

Chaos. Where did _that_ come from?

And where was this even going?

Just when he was contemplating on what to say next, his mind had other plans.

"You're lucky that you're gorgeous," he blurted out before he could swallow it back in, "Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered with any of this."

When Shadow dared to finally take a look at the girl, she was completely flustered. The paleness of her face contrasted with a very deep shade of red attacking her glowing skin.

"Th-Thank you," Tikal stammered embarrassingly, averting her eyes down to her lap as she played with her dreads again.

His were eyes trained at her. The way she would get easily flustered at such comments was incredibly cute. He know he shouldn't have, for he was a gentleman but his eyes helplessly trailed down her figure.

Innocently petite.

Knowing the uncomfortable fact that he shouldn't be staring, Shadow swiftly glanced back up at her. "You're hired."

Her eyes widened when she looked back at him. "Really?"

Shadow gave her a curt nod. "That's only if..." he trailed off, a small sudden smirk plastering his lips, "You come and have dinner with me tonight."

She caught his sly expression, and she couldn't tear her eyes off of him. Even though she was utterly taken aback by his vivid boldness. "A-Are you asking me out on a-"

"Date?" the hedgehog cut her off. He pretended to think about it before answering. "Yes."

Tikal's lips parted a little, feeling speechless. She was doing a terrible job calming the heat of her face down. Could he blame her though? She probably wasn't used to comments like that directed towards her. Really, it only made his smirk widen. Maybe this was her first.

She fidgeted in her seat, clearing her throat softly. "Okay."

He saw the smile she was trying to hide when she looked down. "Are you sure?"

She giggled. "Since you asked so nicely," their eyes connected, "How could I say no?"

He handed her folder back, a low hum escaping from him. "Perfect."

"Do you do that with every other female you interview?" the echidna questioned him, a playful look gaining on her features.

"No," he promptly responded with an eye raised, "Quite offended that you'd ask me that."

Tikal only shook her head with a gentle laugh. "Sorry. Women's intuition."

She stood up, folder held tightly against her chest. Pulling out a pen and small piece of paper from her bag, she scribbled something down. "Here."

Shadow also stood up and took it, eyeing down the number that was neatly written. "Did you take literature as well?"

"Yes," she answered, her lips twitching into a playful grin again as she raised one eye, "Have you kept tabs on me before?"

He had to laugh. "No. I'm just good at knowing people."

"Hum," Tikal pressed her lips together and he couldn't help but glance at them when she did so, "Then perhaps this dinner date doesn't really need to happen."

"Then you wouldn't get the job," he chuckled before pocketing her number, "My shift ends in ten minutes. You can go home and get dressed," he began to tidy up the desk, "I'll text you so you can give me the directions to come and pick you up."

"Sounds good," her lips shyly curled.

When she turned around and started to walk away, Shadow felt confused. "No shaking hands?"

Tikal stopped. The echidna turned her head halfway before turning around completely. Giggling again, she kissed her hand and teasingly blew it across to him.

"See you soon, Shadow," she said, giving him a small wave before making her way out the room.

He watched after her and he could feel his heart thumping against his chest, almost as if he'd get a heart attack any second.

Oh yeah, he was a total _sap_ for her.

His phone buzzed, snapping him out of his trance. Taking it out, he saw that Silver had messaged him.

 _You're welcome. ;)_

Shadow rolled his eyes. Of _freaking_ course.

He sighed as his fingers tapped on the screen.

 _Genius._


	16. Oranges

_016\. Oranges_

It was her first day at work today.

And she was running late!

Her phone buzzed erratically, messages and missed calls from Sonic and Amy appearing on her screen from their group chat.

 _Tikal, where are you?! You're gonna be late!_

 _Please Tikal! If you're not there with us, then I'D have to deal with Amy's wrath alone..._

 _Oh shut up, Sonic. I'm right here!_

Goodness, leave it to her dreadful sleeping pattern that made her miss the first _three_ alarms that rang five minutes from each other this morning. Tikal had to practically rush her shower as well as quickly trying to make herself look decently presentable. As she had no time to make breakfast, she opted out in quickly reaching for a cereal bar from her cupboard before making the excruciating dash to her nearest train station.

Once the echidna had gotten to her platform, the train had thankfully arrived on the dot of her arrival. Sighing in relief with fifteen minutes to spare, Tikal had noticed the packed train stopping. While she would usually wait for the next train (since it would most likely be less busy), she didn't want to be late and risk losing this job. So when the passengers coming out of the train got off, she quickly jumped in, trying her best to avoid stepping on someone's toe.

There weren't any seats available, which Tikal expected, so she held one hand onto the nearest pole as the entry doors closed shut. When the train began to move, she held onto her bag strap tightly, avoiding any eye contact with the other passengers who towered over her.

She took a glance at the map sticker behind her.

Two more stops.

As Tikal exhaled lightly, the train stopped again at the next station. She took a peak at the people going out and the people coming in. Her small claustrophobia kicked in when the train became even more packed, resulting her to step away from the people with big bags in order not to get squashed by them.

Tikal held onto another pole near the closed exit door on the other side. She pressed her lips together when the train doors shut again. She couldn't see anything now, as the business people mostly crowded the vehicle. It was a god send that there was air conditioning otherwise the echidna would've been sure that she'd pass out.

As the train began to move forward, the force managed to cause some people to lose balance and crash into one another. While that didn't bother Tikal as she was huddled into a corner, she didn't expect to have a figure toppling over her.

And she certainly didn't expect a pair of lips crashing onto her own either.

 _What?_

Like saucers, Tikal's eyes widened when realising the situation. Her eyes met a pair of red ones, which also mirrored her expression. They stayed frozen for a few seconds before she gasped, the person immediately pulling away from her out of abrupt panic.

She was stunned, a rush of heat attacking her cheeks as she snapped up at the male. He stared down at her, his left hand held against the pole. Tikal noticed he was a great deal taller than her and that daunted on her uncomfortably.

"Sorry," he said quietly, awkwardly shifting his eyes to the corner.

Tikal gulped as she tried to calm her nerves down. "It's o-okay."

As the train sped along, the echidna couldn't help but take a small glance at the man's attire. He was wearing a typical black business suit, a blazer and tie and everything that you'd see from anyone working at a big company. She assumed that he did work in one as her gaze travelled down the black brief case he was carrying in his other hand.

She noticed how close he was to her. The echidna risked a glimpse at the side of his face. While she couldn't see a lot, he was most definitely a hedgehog as his black and red streaked spikes were well stood out. From the corner of his lips, a slight frown was shown.

Oh wow, she was idly observing someone whom she had her first kiss with.

The thought and realisation shook Tikal and made her blush again, dragging her eyes down to the floor of the train. His fresh cologne reached her nostrils but she tried her best to not get caught up on it.

She never really opted out in being in a relationship and she always thought a kiss was something important and meant to be out of love.

However, that... _that_ was unexpected.

Tikal peeked another look at him, only to find the hedgehog's eyes met her this time. She flinched, her mouth suddenly fumbling and quivering as she quickly broke it off again.

 _What was wrong with her?_

She felt relieved when the train stopped at her destination. The door opened behind her and she stepped out onto the platform without a second glance before gingerly exiting her way out of the station.

She heard footsteps behind her. In fact, she heard a lot of footsteps behind her. Though, these ones felt louder than the others...

As Tikal went up the steps to go out of the station, she risked a turn of her head sideways to see who it was.

Of course, it was him.

However he had turned and walked the opposite way when they were outside. The echidna suddenly stopped and stood there for a second, a lingering sensation building inside her stomach as the bystanders rushed past her. Her fingers were brought up to her lips, brushing them gingerly as the warm feeling refused to subside her pale figure.

Tikal jolted when her phone buzzed again, snapping her out of the such ludicrous thoughts. Getting it out of coat pocket, she answered. "Hello?"

"Tikal!" Amy's voice barked, "Where are you?! The meeting's about to start!"

Her eyes widened and she quickly made a run for it, zooming past everyone as she neared the entrance. "Sorry! I'm almost there!"

...

Tikal sighed exhaustingly as she exited the building later in the afternoon, the cool breeze hitting her dreads smoothly. She smiled softly. Although she was almost late, her boss was really nice and insisted on the new comers to relax as it was their first week. Designing graphics was always a hobby of Tikal's and so she did her very best when listening to her boss's and colleagues about tips and advice. Amy did pester her at lunch about sleeping in early next time, and the bickering between her pink friend and Sonic never seemed to stop towards the end of it.

She laughed quietly as she continued to make her way towards the station. She couldn't wait to go home. A warm bath would be-

"Excuse me," a deep voice stopped Tikal in her tracks, "You dropped this."

The echidna blinked and turned around, looking at her keychain that she dropped. "Oh!" she held out her hand to take it as she looked at the person who picked it up, "Thank-"

Her words faltered when her blue eyes met red again. She gasped, almost snatching back her keychain from his hand when her cheeks heated up. The hedgehog seemed to have been taken aback by her snapped action as he stared at her with mild interest. Though, his gaze changed upon realisation when his eyes glossed with familiarity.

"Thank you!" Tikal said quickly, the squeakiness of her voice erupting her throat.

A leaf blew by on the pavement.

"...You're welcome," the male slowly told her, the awkward tension arising. He just simply nodded and walked past her without a second glance. Tikal stayed in her position, hearing his footsteps fade away before placing a hand against her chest.

 _Oh my goodness,_ Tikal thought. She saw him again, and he also seemed to have worked close by? When she entered this particular area, she noticed that he wore the same uniform as other workers when she went out on her lunch break with Sonic and Amy. Perhaps he worked for a company that competed with her own?

She shook her head, why did it matter? Because he was her first-?

Oh, _right._

Even on her first day at work, she was so busy to even have the time to still fully process that... _flustering_ event.

Tikal slapped her hands against her cheeks.

Bath, eat and sleep.

She hoped it would go in that order.

...

"Whatcha workin' on there, Tikal?" Sonic asked her the next morning in their office. He had kept eyeing on her work as he walked passed her.

The echidna smiled at his genuine curiosity. "I'm working on a logo for our new t-shirts," she explained, pointing at two of her experiments of the bubble-like writing on her screen, "Though, I'm struggling to pick what colour would work for it. I was opting to go for a blue shade or a red shade?"

The blue hedgehog grinned. "Well, that's easy! Blue looks sooooo much better for that type of font!"

"I personally think red would go with it," Tikal heard Amy's voice say. She glanced at her pink friend who came up to them, looking at Tikal's computer screen, "Blue's so overused."

Sonic narrowed his eyes at the other hedgehog. "And you think red isn't?"

Amy scoffed and dragged her stare to him, pulling off the same expression. "I do."

 _Oh dear,_ Tikal thought hopelessly suddenly caught in between their daunting towering figures.

"You seriously wanna ruin Tikal's work by having it be red?!" Sonic said incredulously, "It's gonna look terrible!"

"Excuse me?!" Amy barked back as she leaned closer to him, "Ruin? The only person who'd ruin it would be you since you gave her such braindead advice!"

Sonic leaned closer to her. "Look who's talking!"

Amy gritted her teeth. "Look _who's_ talking!"

"Blue."

"Red."

"Blue!"

"Red!"

" _Blue_."

" _Re-_ "

"H-How about I use both colours?" Tikal nervously intervened, hesitantly lifting her hand up between them before anything got out of hand. Their competent gazes to each other disappeared as they shifted their looks down at her. She only smiled before clicking away on her computer, putting the shades of blue and red on her logo, "How do you guys like it now?"

The two hedgehogs leaned away from each other when they saw the design. Tikal bit her lip as she glanced at the both of them, noticing from their composures that they calmed down. She mentally exhaled in relief.

"Hmm, I like it!" Sonic cheered on, taking a closer look at the design, "Heh... whaddaya know," he scratched the back of his head, "Looks like they do go well together..."

"...Yeah," Amy cleared her throat sheepishly, stubbornly refusing to look at Sonic, "Y-You're right."

Tikal smiled as they walked away. She heard faint apologies coming out from the both of them to each other and she shook her head with a laugh.

Hours had passed before it had hit 8pm. She yawned, stretching her arms and looked around to see that the office was still quiet busy. Tikal stood up and grabbed her belongings before making her way to Sonic's desk.

"Are you able to drive me back home?" she asked him. Taking the train back and then making the walk to her apartment would be quite nerve wracking for her, especially at this time.

"Sorry Tikal," her blue friend told her, "Boss is making Amy and I stay here for another hour or two because of the ruckus we made earlier," he sweat dropped, grinning sheepishly. His then eyes widened, "Oh wait! I have a friend who finishes around this time, I'm sure he can give you a lift!"

Tikal was quickly unsure about the idea. "...Oh?"

"Ah, don't worry! He's a bit of a grump but he's got a heart!" He waved off confidently before getting out his phone, "Well, I _think_ he does anyway..."

The echidna watched Sonic as he spoke to the person on the other end. She was alarmed by the bickering he got caught up in as well, causing her to have second thoughts on the journey.

Sonic sighed and ended his call before smiling over to her. "He's waiting outside for ya!"

Tikal hesitated for a moment before going along with it. "A-All right," she said, saying her goodbye to him. She spotted Amy and waved a farewell to her as well, the other making a gesture to call her when she was home. Tikal smiled and nodded before making her way out of the office and into the elevator. Once she stepped out of the building, a black car pulled up closer along the entrance. The windows were tinted so she couldn't make out the person in there.

A buzz from her phone caught her attention and she checked to see that Sonic had messaged her.

 _His car is full-on black with dark tinted windows if you're confused!_

Ah. She quickly texted him back with a thanks and slowly made her way to the vehicle. Her hand latched onto the handle and opened it, getting into the passenger seat before closing it. When Tikal looked over to see who would be driving her—

Her eyes yet again connected with red.

"Oh my goodness!" Tikal yelped on instinct and flinched back.

The black red streaked hedgehog she was all too familiar with had his hand held onto the wheel as he stared back at her. "...Nice to see you again too."

She blushed feebly, her mind asking many questions. "Y-You know Sonic?"

"We've had a friendly rivalry in middle school," he bluntly told her and then looked ahead, "Where to?"

Tikal couldn't believe this was the third time she had bumped into him. Was... fate screwing with her in some way? Maybe so. She snapped out of her trance and told him the route to her apartment. He nodded and began to drive along the road.

The drive was quiet. Tikal leaned against the window, admiring the night lights that surrounded the city. Her eyes tried resisting the urge to look at her driver but it proved to embarrassingly fail when she realised she kept throwing him side glances.

Then perhaps she should start up a conversation...?

"W-What do you work as?" her voice let out before she could stop herself. The car stopped for a traffic light and the hedgehog adjusted the gear shift and then turned his head.

"I'm a manager at a car company," he simply said, not seeming to be all too bothered at her horrible conversation skills, "Turbo."

Oh. She had heard of that company before. Their graphics team were competitive people, she heard. "That's nice..."

His eyes turned back onto the road as he started driving again. "I guess it is."

Tikal stayed silent. He seemed so reserved. She had always been surrounded by people who liked to start up a conversation with her with no problem. So this style of pacing was something she wasn't used to. Though, she didn't seem to mind it. Perhaps he didn't like to strain his voice all that much. He was definitely the opposite of Sonic.

The car came to a halt. Her gaze set upon her apartment complex until she realised she was finally home. Tikal took a glimpse at her wrist watch seeing that it was just half past eight. She reached down to grab her bag and then hesitantly looked over to the man next to her.

"Thank you," Tikal said with a smile but it faltered slightly when she noticed that she never addressed him properly, "U-Um, I didn't quite catch your name...?"

He adjusted the gear shift once again and looked at her. "Shadow."

She didn't know what caused their eyes to lock onto each other's again. It was becoming a habit, almost. Maybe it was because the way his name rolled off of his tongue so casually. Maybe it was because she couldn't get her mind off of that accidental, yet... _soft_ kiss back in the train.

Perhaps it was because his desired eyes had suddenly trailed down onto her lips.

Tikal held her breath back, her face heating up quickly as she gave him a jittery nod. "Th-Thank you, S-Sir!'

Her hand gripped onto the door handle of the car and opened it, but before she could get out of the vehicle, his hand had gripped on her arm. The echidna froze in position and alertedly turned her head to face him.

"It's a little rude to ask for someone's name and then not say your own back," Shadow stated smoothly, his expression still difficult to read.

The echidna gulped, focusing on his statement rather than focusing on his touch. "Tikal," she uttered before hastily pulling away from his hold and slid out of the vehicle. She shut the door quickly and scurried off into her apartment complex, her heart racing at an impeccable speed.

...

"Are you okay, Tikal? You're looking a little red over there."

Tikal jumped when she heard Amy's voice. "Y-Yes! I'm fine!"

The pink hedgehog didn't seem convinced as she raised an eye at her. "You sure? You've been jumpy all day."

"I-I have?" the echidna questioned obviously, her cheeks reddening a little more.

Amy didn't answer and instead eyed at the redness of the girl's face. Suspicious, she pressed a hand onto Tikal's forehead. The echidna wilted at the touch faintly. "Hmm, you don't seem to have a fever..."

"I don't..." Tikal said as Amy pulled her hand away.

Her friend leaned against her palm, confused. "Then why are you-"

Amy paused.

The echidna blinked.

Then she saw Amy's eyes gradually grow bigger.

Tikal bit her lip. _She caught on_.

"You're blushing over somebody?!" Amy abruptly stood up from her chair and slammed her hands down the table, scaring the other female. The pink hedgehog was suddenly squealing, "Oh my god, oh my god! Who is it? Who is it?!"

Amy unfortunately attracted the attention from a few people in the café because of her outburst. Tikal steadily quietened her friend down, knowing how overreactive she could get when it came to subjects like this.

The young graphics designer cleared her throat. "N-No one in particular..."

The other female rolled her eyes. "Come on, you can tell me!"

Tikal hesitantly looked around before setting her gaze back to Amy. "I'm not sure if you could call it a 'crush'. Something happened earlier last week and—"

"What happened?"

She saw that Amy had leaned closer to her, her eyes almost looking like a cat's. Her curiosity sure was something...

"On the train-"

"On the train?"

"It was a packed train so I was squashed between a few people," Tikal explained, "I-It moved and then... uhm," she swallowed, "H-He almost fell over me but he didn't and then he-"

"He didn't assault you, did he?!"

She stopped and then vigorously shook her head. "No! He didn't! He-"

"He what?!"

"W-We kissed!" Tikal finally spluttered out but also kept her voice to a minimum.

Amy leaned back and slumped onto her seat as a dumbfounded look covered her face. Though it didn't take long for her to start squealing and jumping. "You had your first kiss by accident and you're blushing over it?! That's so cute!"

"It's-"

"You have to tell me who it is!" Amy took a hold of her hands, "Is he handsome? Hot? Muscular even?!"

Tikal tensed slightly. "W-Well-"

"Echidna? Fox? Maybe a hedgehooog?"

"Um-"

"Jesus Amy, would you let the girl speak for just a second?"

She looked up to see Sonic taking a seat next to the pink hedgehog as he handed the both of them a cold drink.

"Oh, be quiet!" Amy huffed but took a sip of the drink anyway, "Tikal's got a huge crush and I wanna know who it is!"

The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes and then turned to Tikal. "Did Shadow take you home safely yesterday?"

Hearing his name made the heat she had just tried to resist flared onto her cheeks again. "Y-Yes, he did."

"Shadow took Tikal home yesterday?" Amy asked him a little surprised, "I thought he only takes the train."

"Only sometimes," Sonic shrugged chewing on his straw, "He took it once last week Monday, I think."

The female hedgehog's ears twitched. "Last week Monday?"

"Yeah, why?"

Amy immediately snapped her eyes to the echidna. "Tikal?"

Tikal pressed her lips together as her skin began to take a deeper toll in red. "Y-Yes?"

The red face and stuttering answered everything Amy needed to know.

"Call Shadow!" the pinked haired shook Sonic, "Call him now!"

Tikal's eyes widened like saucers as she intervened. "No, Amy-!"

Her pleads fell upon deaf ears.

"What?!" Sonic sounded offended, "You want to talk to _Shadow?!_ "

"I have to!"

"For what reason?!"

"A reason an idiot like you wouldn't understand!"

"So you like Shadow now?" the blue hedgehog said in distaste as he abruptly stood up, "Am I not good enough for you?!"

"W-What?" Amy looked up at him as her own face bloomed red.

Sonic paused, slapping a hand over his mouth and descended down into his chair. A blush threatened his cheeks but he chewed at his straw again. "N-Nevermind..."

Awkward silence fell between the two as they looked at each other. Amy cleared her throat and turned to Tikal again-

To find that the seat was empty.

Both Sonic and Amy blinked in confusion. "Tikal?"

...

Tikal managed to step out of the cafeteria without a sound. For once, she was happy that the two hedgehogs were arguing. It gave her the perfect opportunity to slide out of her seat and leave.

Her mind shifted into her thoughts.

Amy now knew. And would possibly tell Sonic about it as well. While that wasn't much of a problem for Tikal, the real problem was how she was going to face Shadow whenever they meet again. Her friends knew him so there would be no doubt she'll stumble across him quite frequently now.

Taking a sip from the drink Sonic bought her, she pressed the elevator button to go up. She waited until the doors opened. Tikal kindly stepped aside for the people getting out, giving them a small smile as they thanked her. When the small crowd went, her eyes travelled across to a figure still standing inside. She trailed her gaze up and immediately regretted it.

Speak of the devil.

Professionally and calmly, there stood Shadow. One hand pocketed while the other held the same brief case from before. He noticed her quickly and Tikal snapped her head down as she walked in, anxiously pressing the button for her floor number. "H-Hi..."

"Hi," he responded when the doors closed.

Tikal stood close to the exit door, her back facing him. She had to speak too soon, didn't she?

When the doors opened to her floor, she began to walk out.

Until, of course, Shadow's hand stopped her again. "Wait."

Tikal turned her head. "Y-Yes?"

"I was suppose to have a meeting with somebody in their office on the top floor," he said, "But they're off sick. Though, I'm still able to go into the room with an access card. You're a graphics designer, correct?"

Not trusting words, the echidna slowly nodded.

Shadow nodded. "Good. I would like to interview you for a possible position at my company."

She was taken aback. "I'm... sorry?"

"For you to be working in this building, you must be impressive," he explained, "Knowing how your boss is picky with his employees."

"O-Oh..."

"But... you don't have to if you don't want to," Shadow then told her, noticing her lack of optimism, "I can easily find another-"

"No!"

Her outburst kept him quiet as he let go of her. The elevator doors had just shut and they began moving up again.

"I-I mean," Tikal corrected herself gently this time, embarrassed by her own voice, "I would like to..."

He stared down at her for a moment and cleared his throat. "All right, thank you."

She nodded sheepishly as she stood beside him this time. When the elevator doors opened, she followed him out into the hallway. She was met with a few gazes and smiles from the people whom she was familiar with as they walked past. Though, she hadn't missed the gleam in their looks when they noticed who she was with.

Shadow was obviously well known.

Tikal got out her phone to see another countless of messages and calls from Sonic and Amy. She decided to text their group chat saying she was fine and that she was back at the office. Putting her device away, she kept following Shadow until they stopped at a door. She watched him slide a card in and pushed it open, gesturing for her to go in first. The echidna nodded in thanks and stepped in, the sound of his own footsteps behind her clicking as he closed the door.

"I apologise for the inconvenience," Shadow stated, putting his brief case away.

Tikal shook her head, laying her bag down. "It's okay."

Shadow pierced his eyes on her. "I lied."

She almost dropped her drink, looking at him with bewilderment. "E-Excuse me?"

"I lied about needing a graphics designer," he said taking a step closer to her, "Sorry."

On instinct, Tikal took a few steps back. "...Th-Then what is it?"

Her back suddenly hit the door but before she could move away, his arms caged around her. In jittery motions, the young echidna dared to connect her eyes with his. She stood still, like a child who just got scolded by their mother, when he leaned down. "I don't know, you tell me."

Just hearing the change of tone in his voice made her stomach flip and her heart skipping beats. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this going as her grip shook against the cup. "S-Sir-"

"Shadow," he promptly corrected her, leaning closer.

Tikal averted her hazy eyes down his lips, the same ones that touched her own on the train. Did he feel the same way she did? Did he... like it? So many questions played in her head yet there was so little time to process them as she could feel his fresh minty breath blowing onto her skin.

Should she...?

"Ames, I don't think Tails is in today. He said he wasn't feeling well," she suddenly heard Sonic's voice say.

Tikal gasped, abruptly shoving the straw of her drink into Shadow's mouth. The black hedgehog's half lidded eyes opened fully as he looked at her. The echidna pressed a finger against her lips, telling him not to speak.

She then heard Amy. "Oh, but I don't think he'd mind if I went in to pick up a few of my documents."

"You do know that every access card is different for each room," Sonic stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "You can't get in."

And thank _Chaos_ for that.

Amy groaned. "Right, right. I keep forgetting about that."

"Come on let's get outta here," Sonic sighed and took a hold of her hand, "There's this new restaurant down town, you wanna go?"

The pink hedgehog suddenly turned red. "Y-You're taking me to dinner?!"

The other hedgehog scratched the back of his hand and quickly turned away, hand still in hers. "Yeah, s-so what?"

Amy didn't respond.

Sonic rolled his eyes and pulled her along. "Come on, let's go!"

"Oww. Stop tugging me!"

"You're too slow!"

"Oh, everything's too slow for you!"

"Shut it!"

Once Tikal heard their voices fading, she frantically pulled the straw out of Shadow's mouth as he leaned off of her. She breathed in before hesitantly walking to a small trash can and dropped her drink in there.

"You seem to have a bad habit of chewing on your straws," she heard Shadow say making her turning around quickly, "...And a habit of using too much lip balm."

As if she didn't have an excuse to be redder than before. "S-Sorry!"

Quiet.

Then he laughed. He _laughed_. Even if it was a low sounding laugh, one that wasn't like the ones she had heard before, she didn't think he was capable of doing it.

Tikal wanted to slap herself for that. Her expectations were disgustingly rude.

"It's all right," he said pocketing his hands... and then slowly added in with a small smirk, "Though, I think I liked the orange flavoured lip balm you had on the other day. It tasted _much_ better than the strawberry."

She gaped at his words, horrified.

Shadow took note in her flustered expression and felt satisfied. "Are you busy for the rest of the day?"

All the echidna could muster was a shake of her head.

The black hedgehog picked up his brief case and held out his hand to her. "I would like to take you to dinner."

...

"What did you major in?"

Tikal stopped playing with her food and dragged her eyes up at him. "L-Literature..."

He raised a fine eye at that.

She suddenly let out a free smile. "I had two passions at University. Graphics and Literature, but I chose and focused on Literature more because of my grade in high school."

Shadow nodded. "So how did you get a qualification in Graphics?"

"Since the high school I went to didn't have a course for Graphics Design, the University I went to only allowed me to major in Literature instead," Tikal explained feeling more comfortable with her wording, "I didn't mind because back then I found creating graphics more of a hobby than doing it for professional work."

"So I'm guessing you changed your mind right after you graduated?"

"Mhm!" Tikal laughed softly, "Even though my major doesn't match with my current job right now, I was still able to show a portfolio of work I had done at home."

"Ah," Shadow took a sip from his wine glass, "You know, I always thought Sonic would go for a career in sports. I didn't think he'd take up the same."

"...L-Life comes with many surprises, I guess," she quipped.

He rolled his eyes. "He has a brain of a dolt."

"He works hard," Tikal came into her blue friend's defence, "With Amy and Tails there and all... he's our motivator in the group."

Shadow set his glass down. "Mm."

"W-What about you?" Tikal immediately set her eyes down onto her food again, "How did you become what you are now?"

"It's not much of a big deal to be honest," he answered calmly, "I majored in Business and Finance. My father is the current CEO of our company, though he'll be stepping down soon to give that position to me."

"Oh," the echidna tilted her head at him, "Are you excited?"

"I'm quite happy, yes."

She analysed his facial expression when he said that and tried to suppress her laugh.

Shadow had noticed this. "What?"

"No," Tikal giggled out, "...It's just, you don't look too happy."

He stared at her as she began laughing softly.

"But," her giggles died down as she smiled at him sweetly. "That's good to know."

The hedgehog gave her brief and amused smile back. "Thanks."

Tikal nodded at him, catching his lips curl upwards.

 _Smiling suits him._

"It does?" she heard him question making her jolt slightly, "I guess so."

" _W-What?!_ " Tikal squeaked eyes widening at his words, "Y-You heard...?"

Shadow paused at her panicked gaze and chuckled. "It's fine, Tikal. I appreciate the compliments."

Heat flared up her cheeks and her hands flailed in front of her. "I-I'm sorry!" But she froze when she processed the word _compliments_ and not _compliment_.

"You tend to daydream a lot," Shadow answered her unspoken question, "I like your eyes too by the way."

Tikal shamelessly buried her face into her hands for the rest of the dinner.

...

Shadow offered her a ride home and seeing how late it had gotten, she gladly accepted it.

As he drove them into the main road, he asked her. "How would you like to become a graphics designer for Turbo?"

"Y-You're not lying this time?"

"I'm not."

She thought about it for a moment. "I don't mind..."

He gave her a side glance. "I'm just giving you an opportunity," he said, "Sonic likes to comment about your work a lot and ends up showing me some of it whenever he and Tails stroll into my office on their breaks. I'm impressed."

"You are?" Tikal began playing with her dreads, "Thank you so much..."

"You're welcome," Shadow said as he stopped for a traffic light and turned his head to her, "So how about it? You don't need to be interviewed or anything. You'll be working for me without any trouble."

Her mind dived into some contemplation. "It's a bit sudden, isn't it?"

His eyes fell onto the road as they started moving again. "It is. Like I said before, I won't force you. I can give you time to think about it."

At least he was giving her an option.

Another questioned lingered in her head. "Wouldn't that mean I would be competing against my friends?"

"Yes," he simply answered, "If that will bother you, then I understand."

She contemplated, gazing into the night sky before looking at her hands.

"I'll... I'll think about it," she said timidly twiddling her fingers. After taking a soft breathe in, she then asked, "Is there another reason?"

He gave her another glance. "Another reason?"

Tikal pressed her lips together and finally looked at him. "Why you want me to work for you...?"

He stayed silent as he pulled up to the front of her apartment complex.

"Probably."

She blinked at him as he got out of the car and saw him walk around it. He opened her door and offered a hand.

"Thank you," she said, taking it as she stepped out of the vehicle with her bag resting on her shoulder.

Shadow shut the door and followed her until they reached in front of the staircase of the building. Tikal turned around and smiled at him. "Thanks again."

He nodded with another small smile of his own. The echidna then watched him dish out a piece of paper from his blazer pocket and presented to her.

"When you've thought about it, let me know."

"Ah," Tikal glanced down at it before taking it, "Thank you, I will."

"Then," she watched him trace his ruby eyes down to her lips and for a split second, they gleamed. He turned around and took the steps back down to the pavement, "I'll see you around."

Her gaze set upon his retreating figure. By now, it was the time to go inside her complex. However, she couldn't seem to move, as if her shoes were glued onto the ground.

"Shadow?"

It was the first time she said his name.

He stopped as he reached the bottom of the staircase and slowly turned around, his face indifferent. "Yes?"

Her heart said _go_ and so she did. Tikal dropped her things and wistfully rushed down the steps. She saw his eyes widen but thought nothing of it and wrapped her arms around his neck, toppling her lips over his.

...

"So Shadow's stealing you away from us?"

They were all huddled together at Tails's apartment in the morning. Tikal dressed in her work clothes as the others had the day off.

Tikal shook her head at Sonic. "I-I wouldn't say stealing..."

"You're such a dolt!" Amy complained hitting his arm, "Don't you know anything?!"

"Apparently not," the blue hedgehog hissed and then glared at her, "God, you didn't have to do that ya know!"

Tails, who sat beside Tikal, absently minded the two hedgehogs' behaviour as he gave her a supportive smile. "Congratulations, Tikal! I'm sure you'll do well!"

Tikal laughed quietly, giving him another piece of tissue for his stuffed nose. "Thank you Tails."

"If you could ever give me a tour around the place," the fox then said quietly, "That would be great too!"

"Of course," she said, admiring his cute interest, "I'll make sure it happens!"

The fox beamed, hugging his mug of coffee against him. "Thanks a bunch!"

Tikal smiled at him before standing up, making Sonic and Amy stop their bickering. "I'll be going now."

"You sure you don't need a ride?" Sonic asked, tossing his car keys around.

"No, it's okay," she said, shaking her head with another smile, "I-I'll see you guys later..."

"Make sure to call me!" Amy said, a teasing grin lining her lips as she gave her a supportive thumbs up. Sonic and Tails both grinned at her also, waving a goodbye.

She nodded, sheepishly waving back at them before making her way out.

As usual, the echidna made her way to the train station and patiently waited for the train at her platform. Once it arrived, she hopped on and held onto a nearby pole before it started moving.

The train steadily got packed the two stops before her destination. She stepped aside for people to squeeze through, making sure she didn't let go of the pole.

When it moved again, she suddenly felt a body crash against hers, forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut and grip away from the pole as she frantically held onto the person's clothes instead.

However, her eyes snapped open and immediately connected with a pair of red when realising the familiar feeling of slightly chapped lips colliding with hers. Tikal yelped and quickly pulled away, embarrassed.

"...Glad to know you stuck with orange again," she heard Shadow's voice say lowly, quiet laughter erupting his throat as he wrapped an arm her waist to hold her steady.

She shyly glanced up at the hedgehog, cheeks burning before burying herself into his chest.

The journey couldn't be any better.


	17. His secretary

_017\. His secretary_

 _._

 _._

 _._

Shadow didn't know what it was about her.

Perhaps it was the way she bit her lip or when her cheeks dusted pink when he'd walk past her. Or maybe how she'd be holding a stack of paper and clumsily drop it when he stepped foot into her presence. How she would stammer out her words when he'd be speaking to her and only her in his office.

It probably was because she'd always wear a skirt and her _tantalising_ legs would catch his attention immediately.

She was such an alluring sight for him.

...

He inherited the business from his father, who inherited it from his grandfather. It went on and on. While Shadow liked cars, surrounding himself with the latest models, coming up with ideas for a new vehicle; it was ultimately never his dream job. His dream job was to become a writer of some sort, whether it was literature or journalism. In his breaks, he tended to find himself writing anything that fascinated him, anything that he felt was necessary to write down, while biting into a sandwich that his client would come up and give him because he didn't like sitting in the cafeteria full of his talkative employees.

Speaking of his client, Tikal's history was different from his own. From the information he had gathered, she lived in the countryside with her mother and father. She was your ideal normal life female. Went to school, got good grades, worked two jobs on the weekends. Pretty substantial. Then sadly, a family tragedy caused herself and mother to move to the city where the both of them could find work.

Her father was good friends with his own. So when he had heard about the passing, he had given Tikal's mother a decent workplace at a nearby café considering her age. With Tikal, his father decided it was a good idea to make her Shadow's client when he resigned from the CEO position.

The young echidna was the last person he'd expect to take over the role of the CEO's personal secretary. Disheveled, frantic, and a straight up _mess_.

He didn't mind. Until he realised how incredibly clumsy she really was.

Accidentally deleting their financial records because she didn't know how to properly work a computer. Turning down an official proposal from the government who wanted to aid their funds because she thought it was a prank call, messing up their nearby hotel reservations because they needed to close it down for the next year for renovations but instead told the hotel manager _immediately_ which caused a serious number of complaints from customers.

He tried to convince his father to remove her from the company before she could make permanent damages, but the old man found it to be quite amusing and let her be.

She offered to leave herself, eyes swimming in tears like a puppy had just gotten disowned and put onto the streets.

Unfortunately because of the friendship their father's had, his dad had a liking towards Tikal, treating her as if she was his own daughter and there wasn't a single doubt that it would fade. Shadow didn't want to disappoint his father by removing Tikal on his own, so he took the seat and dived into the disaster. He would expect every morning that she'd spill his coffee, frantically apologising and rushing out of his office to get him a new shirt. He would expect her to bump into the glass door while she wasn't looking because of her set deadlines.

He'd always hold back a laugh, a smile even. It was just so hilarious every time she did it. It gave his incredibly boring work life a thrive. It was until he noticed that the more he saw the woman, the more he'll find his eyes lingering on her antics, her small smiles to herself when she finally did something right, her petite yet ogling body.

It was almost as if it was a sin for him to be feeling this way, yet he didn't stop. _He couldn't stop_. He would set his gaze on her until she was out of sight.

...

"Are the reports finished, Tikal?"

He saw the orange echidna flinch, and then ungracefully the unclipped papers scattered down to the floor. She quickly looked at him, a panicked expression grazing her features before she knelt down to pick them up. "A-Almost, sir."

Shadow stayed quiet as he watched his client, her legs at full-on view as they pressed together. Didn't they have a rule for women to not wear such short skirts?

Not that he minded when it came to her.

Tikal stood up, papers against her chest and turned around to file them once again avoiding his eyes completely.

"Once you're done, come see me at my office," he then told Tikal causing her to freeze, "I need help preparing for the meeting."

She straightened up and nodded, her back still facing him. "Y-Yes, sir."

Shadow pocketed his hands and walked out, catching a glimpse of her reddened face.

...

 _"I want grandchildren."_

His mother said.

You see, this was the problem with being the only child in the family. No siblings for your parents to depend upon with taking the role as the CEO or taking the role to have children.

It was honestly the last thing he had in mind.

Well, not really. He wanted to become a father, but sometime later. He was only twenty three, after all.

 _"I'm getting old, Shadow. I can't possibly have anymore children!"_

He rolled his eyes at that.

He didn't have many lady friends on his radar. He was never really the sociable type. He had three friends.

Two were male.

The female in the group was an over-confident batty friend of his. While he cherished their friendship, he never had the eyes for her. In fact, she was so absorbed with a certain red echidna that she couldn't care less about anybody else.

Shadow rubbed his temple, suddenly irritated.

Since his reluctance at the dinner table last night was evident, his mother dropped the bomb shell that if he didn't find a woman to marry within a month, she would find him one herself and he'll have to marry her without protest.

Ugh. Wasn't that _illegal?_

He looked up to Tikal coming into his office with a binder full of paper. She didn't make eye contact as she was already focused on filing the papers into their correct places on her own desk.

"Tikal," Shadow called out to her, almost feeling bad that he interrupted her. She jumped and quickly flickered her eyes over to him. He motioned her to come. She nodded and walked over to him.

"Do you know anyone who's free tomorrow evening?" He spoke before she could greet him.

"Tomorrow evening?" she tilted her head at him, "Well... _you are_ , Sir."

"Other than me."

Tikal blinked and then shrugged, biting the corner of her lip as her blue orbs drifted to the corner. "M-Me?"

"Other than-"

Wait. Hold on. _Hoooooold on a second_. "You're free tomorrow evening?"

"I take the same days off as you do, Sir. Unless there's any other day where you want me to look over anything."

 _Jackpot_. Why didn't he think of it before?

Petite, pretty and a delicate frame. She was perfect, the ideal type of wife that his mother would want for him. Caring and tender.

...

He was right. Oh, he was so _right_.

After scouring around the city the next day, he took her to the shops that manage to catch her eye when looking at her reactions. Shadow wasted no time and made her wear countless of dresses in the changing room, the echidna blushing every time she came out of the curtains wearing a different one. Really, they all lingered his eye and she looked absolutely _stunning_ in each and every one of them.

His tongue had tied itself however when she timidly stepped out in a forest green dress, the lace reaching her mid-thigh. It hugged her torso and bust perfectly, her back fully exposed with the thin straps slightly falling off her shoulders.

Shadow was practically gaping at her, his eyes tracing down the figure of her body. Her exposed skin naturally glowing from the lighting, her legs perfectly touching one another as shyly posed for him.

 _Shit, she was beautiful_.

"Sir?"

He snapped his gaze at her, blinking several times before he clearing his throat. "This will do."

"A-Are you sure?" Tikal asked, looking down at the dress before back at him, "I can try another one if you'd like..."

He instead brought up a hand, a soft shake of his head as he mustered the weakest smile he could. "It's fine."

She put on a small yet nervous smile of her own, biting her lip again as she went back into the curtains.

Shadow let out a breath he apparently had been holding in.

...

"Sir, I think it would be best for you to tell her the truth," Tikal said to him, bringing up the subject quietly as she watched the man pull up towards the house, "She... might see through you."

Shadow took off his seatbelt. "I'm sure she won't."

He got out of the car, shutting the door and went around it to open the passenger door for her. The hedgehog held out his hand for the echidna to take and she obliged, stepping out of the black vehicle carefully in her heels.

"These types of actions lead to bad types of consequences, Sir," she stated hesitantly looking up at him.

Shadow just gave her one of his side glances before taking themselves to the front porch. He didn't even get a chance to knock as the door quickly pulled open and Tikal was already engulfed into a pair of arms.

His mother smiled brightly, a little too much for Shadow's liking. "It's so good to finally meet you! I've heard good things about you, Tikal dear."

Which was an absolute lie. The both of them knew that. Though, his mother liked to keep a good image of herself.

Tikal kept a kind smile on her lips, still startled by the woman's confidence. "You too, miss."

His mother ushered them inside, Tikal stumbling on her heels a little as she did so. Shadow pulled out a chair for her as he took off her coat. The echidna smiled shyly in response and sat down, eyes looking down at the rich food in front of her.

"Help yourself," Shadow said and sat down next to her when he noticed hungered gaze, "There's enough."

Tikal suddenly stared at him and he caught a flash of irritation in her look before it quickly disappeared. "I don't have that much of an appetite, _Sir_."

His mother displayed a look of confusion. "Sir?"

Shadow immediately cleared his throat. "Let's tuck in, shall we?"

...

"Would you like a bit of wine, Tikal?"

Tikal dabbed the cloth against her mouth. "I-I have a very low alcohol tolerance, miss."

Shadow sipped on his own glass. "Is that so?"

"It's only a little!" his mother insisted and already poured it into her class.

"I really can't. Sir, will you take me home? My mom's probably worried sick."

"Maybe you can have one class and then we can leave," Shadow said quickly, avoiding his mother's suspicious stare once again.

The glass was already put in front of her, and his mother was on her second glass showing no signs of stopping any time soon.

Which meant she wanted company throughout the time, whether they agreed or not.

...

Shadow's watch sounded at a vivid 3AM when his mother finally let them go. He was currently driving Tikal home, the latter in a drunken haze in his passenger's seat. It wasn't so difficult getting her into his car, the difficulty was the guilty feeling in his chest that he hadn't forced his mother to stop giving her the drinks.

Tikal only had half a glass till she was already smashed and another three more when his mother kept pressuring her to.

He opted to stay out of it so he was able drive her home.

He apologised for everything when they got into the car, not knowing his mother would go insane with the food and drinking, as well as for using her to be his fiancé so the woman could get off his case.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Mmm... I think I love you..."

He slammed on the breaks.

Shadow didn't think he heard it right. "... _What?_ "

Tikal suddenly let out a free giggle, a tipsy one at that as she crawled onto his lap. "I love you."

She kissed him.

...

He didn't want to.

But he did.

She made it very difficult for him not to pull up to a hotel that he owned, scoop her up bridal style and walk into the empty halls to find the perfect room. Once he did, he swiped his card against the lock and opened the door, quickly slamming it shut. He pinned Tikal against it, connecting their lips once again.

His mind kept screaming at him. _This is so wrong, this is so wrong._

But she kept making it harder for him to resist. Her hands pressed against his chest, slowly slithering to his waist.

 _This_ was the Tikal he'd never seen before.

And he was enjoying every bit of it.

"Sir...?"

"Hm?"

"I'm really," she pulled away from the kiss and yawned, " _Really_ tired."

She collapsed against his arms.

...

She fell asleep before he did. When the timer said it was 6am, he found himself ringing the doorbell at a small apartment that was half an hour away from the hotel.

An older woman who looked a lot like Tikal opened the door and relief washed her face. "Oh, thank you so much! I was beginning to worry, and she just wouldn't answer her phone..."

"It's all right," Shadow said and stepped inside with Tikal in his arms. His eyes travelled around the small apartment as he began to walk. It was small, fitted right for two people. Everything seemed so cramped though, the kitchen being only two feet away from the living room itself as well as their bedrooms not being far off. He made a mental note to talk to his father about it.

"You can put her on the couch," the woman said to him with a laugh following after, "She seems to like it more than her own bed."

He nodded and did so, using the blankets nearby to tuck her in properly. "She doesn't need to come into work today."

"I'll tell her that as soon as she wakes up," she said with a smile. The echidna thanked him again before entering the kitchen, "Would you like anything to drink, dear?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Shadow told her. He looked down at Tikal, sighing as he gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.

...

Tikal came to work the next day. There were no signs of her acknowledging what happened the other night.

That was because she didn't even spare a glance at him. _She avoided him like a plague_.

She would quickly strut away when he was near her presence. She _actually_ made one of her co-workers come into his office so they could get the files _she_ was supposed to get from him. Whenever he made eye contact with her, she'd flinch and look away quickly.

Shadow came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to back down. Not by a mile.

Late into the afternoon, whilst he was clicking away on his computer, he saw Tikal walk into his room with paper in her hands. Once she set them down onto a table, she began walking back.

"Don't go yet. Close the door," his baritone voice forced his secretary to freeze in her tracks and his finger ushered her towards him, "And _lock_ it."

"Sir, if you need anybody to-"

"No one's in the building, if you hadn't noticed yet," he stated, "I made them leave early."

She didn't say anything to that and slowly obeyed his order, locking the door shut. She finally turned to face him before hesitantly walking towards him, promptly making the hedgehog spin his chair properly facing her.

"So you remember."

Tikal bit the corner of her lip, putting her hands behind her. "It depends... Do you love me?"

Shadow chuckled as she looked down at her feet and clicked her heels. He reached for both of her wrists and comfortably rubbed his thumb against them.

He looked into her eyes. They were really blue, her cheeks were dusted pink and her dreads were as ripe an orange. "I think I do, _I think_ ," he mimicked her voice from the situation, and he felt her grow warm in his hands, "Maybe you're desperate to taste me again to reconfirm my feelings."

Tikal looked absolutely horrified. "Did I say that?"

"In the car when you were talking in your sleep, you did."

She peered towards him and quickly blurted out the three words. "I love you."

"Hmm?" the hedgehog clicked his tongue and wagged his finger, "Now you've gone and said that _twice_."

He tugged her down and their lips met for a smooth kiss.

...

He pinned her down onto the bed and spoke in between their kisses. "You know, you can stop calling me Sir."

Small, tender fingers trailed up to the collar of his shirt and began to fiddle with his buttons. _"Sir."_

He growled and she giggled, stripping off her own clothing with his help so that she was in her undergarments.

His eyes ogled at her chest. Forest green looked perfect on her. She had been very considerate of him.

"Sir, stop staring."

Shadow's eyes shifted into a hard look. "You're turning me _off_."

He backed away as if jokingly but Tikal pulled him back down so their chests were touching. "Then... _Shadow?_ "

His heart must've melted all over again.

...

"Why did you buy us a house, Shadow?"

Six months later, the snow had cascaded itself over the city proving difficult for vehicle travel.

He looked at her as they were walking on the white footpath. "It's not for you. It's for your mother."

Tikal understood the implication very well but still pondered. "But... why?"

"She earned it," the hedgehog put it simply without providing anymore details.

She didn't question him again as their hands squeezed together against that cold evening. Shadow unlocked the front door, letting her in first before doing so himself.

His delightfully mother greeted them at the table with a staggering amount of food on the table.

"Don't be shy anymore," Shadow told his partner when he saw her mouth water at the sight. He pulled out a chair for her. "Mom won't mind."

He ignored her pout as he sat down beside her. What? Tikal _did_ have a hearty appetite. Their dinner from last night proved that.

However that was besides the point. It was impolite to talk about a lady's eating habits after all.

When Shadow got comfortable, he busied himself to help Tikal out of her coat. The room was warm enough and he was already worried that she'd pass out from the excessive heat.

His mother cleared her throat and asked the same question for the hundredth time that year. "So when can I expect grandchildren?"

Shadow scratched the back of his head. "In three months, presumably?"

Her worries were nearly over and she placed a hand against her chest, awaiting to praise the Lord.

"Three months? Are the two of you getting _married_ in three months?" she eased into the conversation, hoping to extract the exact information a little more.

Shadow blinked and shook his head. "No. Tikal's _due date_ is in three months."

Finally, right at that moment, he managed to make his partner give up her coat threatening to toss it aside. Tikal stood up and sweetly began to kiss his cheeks in hopes to make him give it back to her and repeatedly calling him _Sir_. The older woman on the table landed her gaze on Tikal's growing stomach and there were _stars_ in her eyes before she blacked out completely.

Three months. _Soon enough_.


	18. Tease

_018\. Tease_

 _._

 _._

 _._

"Have you ever been interested in dancing?"

The question threw Shadow off guard from his computer screen, the clicking from his mouse momentarily pausing as he flickered his ruby eyes over to his guest. "No."

Such things he had no time for- nor the patience. He was never the 'dance' person anyway. Sure, he was forced to but he never did it. He'd been to parties and helped Rouge out with her club. There would be people dancing all over the place and he'd rather prefer sticking to a corner and look or just get the hell out of there when he could. The latter was always the case.

Tikal shot him a dubious look. "No?"

"No," he echoed and went back to work.

From his peripheral, he saw the echidna fidgeting in her seat and gave him quick glances of hidden hope. He noticed, of course. But he'd thought she'd give up within a few rounds. However after a few minutes glaring at his document and feeling the yearn in Tikal's gaze- with her irritable knee bopping, he stopped and teared his attention away from his screen with a slightly exasperated huff.

She seemed surprised for a split second but quickly smiled with satisfaction as he now looked at her. "...Would you like to?"

The hedgehog wasn't a fool. He knew what she wanted out of this; to break him out of his cage, to make him do something he didn't want to do because she didn't want him save himself from the embarrassment. She was cruel, so very cruel to him. A complete _angel_... but _cruel_.

Shadow slumped his shoulders, a stubborn frown passing. "Do I have a choice?"

-A giggle.

Followed by a bite of her lip as Tikal breathed in from her fit. "It would-" Another laugh let loose and Shadow was really considering to Chaos Control away but he stayed put as he watched her collect herself, "-It'd be nice if you would just admit it."

He squinted. "Admit... what?"

She sniffed. "That you can't dance."

Shadow stiffened at her atrocious statement and guarded himself whole heartedly. He leaned in, almost dauntingly. "...You think I _can't?_ "

Tikal had pressed her lips, subtly gazing at his features and shrugged. "I don't know. I've never seen you dance."

"I don't know any of your _tribal_ dances," the hedgehog countered with a domineering look, "But I _do_ know how to do such simple things like the waltz."

Maria taught him once back at the Professor's lab. And while it became a drag to do because of their massive height difference, he was perfectly capable to master it at the end.

He never did it with anyone else though, _ever_.

She gave him a look of confusion. "The... waltz?"

"A dance where two people hold onto each other and move about at the same time," Shadow explained with a cross of his arms, "It's not that... it's not simple."

Despite the ending of his statement, the woman in front of him was impressed and then suddenly stood up with an eager smile. "Let's do the waltz then," she said and held out her hand, "You can teach me!"

He lingered at the clock beside him. It wouldn't hurt to take a break... he was going to go home soon anyway.

Shadow mirrored Tikal's movements with a sense of pride and took her hand against his own before walking to the centre of his office.

"And don't try to exert yourself..."

He scoffed at her with a mini glare as they stood. _"I'm the one teaching you."_

Tikal only smiled.

"Place your left hand on my shoulder," he said and she complied. Shadow slithered his hand as landed itself on her waist. He then slowly intertwined his left hand with her right and squeezed them. The hedgehog swallowed when amusement filled Tikal's eyes at the action, "...Just in case you trip."

She stifled another giggle and nodded. "Okay."

He cleared his throat and paced his eyes. "I'm gonna take a step forward. At the same time, you take a step back," As he did so, Tikal followed his instruction, "Good."

"Is that all?" Tikal asked.

"No," Shadow shook his head and held back his tongue to refrain a retort, "There's one where we step to the side together," he told her. Tikal managed to copy his feet as they moved, "Yeah... like that."

They kept going at it as he remembered the other movements that were included in the dance. Tikal did tease him here and there but she was enjoying it. And he was too... not that he wanted to admit that in front of her.

"Shall we do this with music?"

Shadow prodded on the question. "Music?"

"People must usually do this dance with music, no?" Tikal elaborated for him before glancing at the storage behind him, "Don't you have that old record player somewhere?"

Indeed he did. The hedgehog pulled away from her and stalked over to his cupboard, rummaging through the things that were cascaded inside. He pulled out the record player she had been talking about and placed it onto his desk. Fingers gliding across the turntable, he turned it on. Luckily, he left the plastic disc in there the last time he had used it so he just lifted the needle and placed it on the record. Static first sounded before the music finally played smoothly.

He walked back to her but stopped suddenly. Tikal blinked at him and looked as if she was about to ask him what was wrong. Shadow decided he'd do this the proper way and closed his eyes. "Would you care to have this dance with me, Tikal?" he asked and bowed down his head.

Tikal was flustered by the sudden change in gesture and her cheeks dusted with pink. Nevertheless, she smiled and took his hand as she dipped her head in return. "Yes."

They carved back into the same position and moved again with the music this time. Strides to the left and right, steps forward and back... a twirl. Tikal picked up the movements faster than he thought... faster than he did, really. Perhaps the tribe back then had a similar concept of the dance? He would've thought so. It was a fairly old dance.

...Or _maybe-_

He was so lost in his conclusion that he stepped on something that wasn't the floor beneath them. A yelp escaped from his Tikal's lips before he realised that his shoe was pressed against her toe. Shadow wanted to pull his foot back immediately but the echidna also had the same plans of her own and so they subsequently lost balance. Tikal pulled him down with her, much to his displeasure since he wanted it to be the _opposite_ for her sake, and their bodies collided with each other's displeasingly.

 _Thud!_

Shadow immediately lifted himself off of her and looked down. "Are you-"

There were no signs of discomfort on her face. She just... _grinned_.

And then another giggle threatened to escape from her.

He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "You _knew_."

"And?" Tikal cupped his face with her hands and laughed freely, "It's not everyday I can force you to finally do something like this with me!"

The hedgehog couldn't say anything as he felt his cheeks warm up a little. He frowned and sat up properly, silently sulking with his back turned to her to know that he'd been outplayed.

She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and placed her chin against his shoulder. "Aww, don't be like this."

"You're such a tease."

"Funny," Tikal said and he could just hear the slyness of her voice, "You weren't being less of a tease last night..."

Oh, now that was just uncalled for.

With a dignified huff and a embarrassing crack from his voice, Shadow ripped out of her hold and stubbornly marched out of his office. "We're going home."

Tikal just stared after him before calling out, "You left the emerald on your desk!"

Shadow stomped back in with a growl.


	19. lasting dreams

_019\. lasting dreams_

 _._

 _._

 _._

"Shadow," the girl with orange dreads whispered. She had an ethereal sort of beauty, something that would draw the attention of everyone in the vicinity. Shadow felt something tugging at his chest, a strange familiarity that he couldn't seem to rub off even if he tried.

"Who are you?" he asked, and the girl looked at him sorrowfully. He had the vague notion that he would like to see her smile, and he almost recoiled at the sudden thought.

She reached out a hand towards him. As soon as he attempted to reach back, everything faded.

...

Shadow stared up at the ceiling with a disgruntled frown. He was annoyed, disappointed. That was the fourth time the dream reoccurred to him. Every single time something good was about to happen in it, he'd wake up. His frowned deepened. He shouldn't be thinking like this. He didn't like how the dream made him feel, _how the girl in it made him feel._

He let out a low growl and got up from bed. He had no time for such nonsense. Dreams like that didn't matter. They _never_ mattered. He had to get ready for work. Something that was _far_ more important.

When he finished another assignment from the Commander, he sat down onto his desk and started on the paper work.

However, he couldn't. He tried. But he _couldn't._

Images. Images of that beautiful echidna filled his mind again. The _beautiful echidna_ that never existed but in his dreams.

"Damn it all," Shadow muttered and placed his head against his hands.

Rouge stepped into his office a moment later with a folder full of files for him.

"You've been out of it lately," she told him, arms crossed as concern washed her features, "Have you been sleeping okay?"

He clenched his jaw. _Sleep. I wish I could never sleep again._ "Yes."

The bat didn't seem so convinced and raised an eye. "Maybe you should schedule a doctor's appointment and see what's up. Those dark circles won't fix themselves," Rouge said and then turned to strut off, "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Once the door shut, Shadow stared after it and harshly gripped the handles of his chair.

...

"This feels nice."

Shadow watched her as her bare feet touched the water. He looked from a distance but not too far so he could see the content and smile tracing her face.

The fact that she wore a plain white dress defined how innocent she looked against the ripples and splashes of the water.

She turned to face him as her lips curled. The sun shone directly onto her and at that point, all he saw was an angel.

Shadow was already entranced. So his feet moved along the water and he stood in front of her. Her smile widened as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind," she commented.

"Because of you," he replied, his hands slithering down her waist.

The echidna giggled and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry, Shadow..."

He jolted awake and quickly touched his cheek. It was cold.

Though, he never noticed the one tear pouring down his face.

...

"A dream? A dream about what?"

He couldn't believe he made the effort to go to Tails's house the next day after work. He was the last person he thought of ever going to. The idea of going to an actual doctor irked him. Plus, Tails was practically knew the things they knew. Shadow just trusted him more is all.

He didn't know any other way to answer his question. So he decided to be straight. "...A girl. Someone whom I could never know."

Tails blinked at him curiously but he nodded. This was a senstive topic. "Do you keep dreaming about her?"

"I can't remember the last time I haven't," Shadow said quietly.

The fox was in thought. He'd never seen the hedgehog so down like this before. "So it's about the same girl. Tell me, do the dreams ever progress?"

He looked at Tails. "What do you mean?"

"Like, do they ever..." Tails paused and cleared his throat, coming up with a better set of words, "What do you see her as?"

The question put him off guard. "What... do I see her as?"

Tails quickly analysed how the hedgehog before him was acting. "Yeah. Do you see her as a friend or...?"

Shadow lips thinned into a line and his gaze drifted down. "...More than that."

"Ah," he understood now, "I've never had something like this happen to me before so I'm happy you told me," Tails smiled when Shadow crossed his arms with a huff, "Do you miss her, Shadow?"

Shadow asked the obvious. "How could I possibly miss someone who doesn't even exist?"

"It's possible. Seeing how you've had these dreams for a while..." Tails got up from his chair rummaged through one of his draws, "I'm not telling you that you should take this but it may help you with some sleep," he held up a small bottle before throwing it over to him.

He caught it and looked at it. "Is this the sleeping medicine?"

Tails nodded. "Try to take it a few hours before you go to bed. It's not like the stronger ones they prescribe to people so you won't have any headaches when you wake up," he went back to his computer, "Like I said, only take it if you need to. Just give me a call if you've used it all up and I'll give you another one."

Taking it would probably mean he'd stop having that dream. "Okay, thanks."

...

When he started to take the medicine, he was finally at peace with his sleep. No interruptions. No nothing. His body didn't feel like shit when he woke up in the mornings. His dark circles faded and gone like they were never there in the first place.

His didn't feel content though. There was no closure in his heart. The dreamless sleeping didn't make him stop thinking about the girl who he helplessly fell in love with. It was pathetic. _He_ felt pathetic. How could he become so weak to these things?

It wasn't like anyone could help him with the situation. And he couldn't blame them. It was _impossible._

Shadow sighed and had his eyes set on the picture frame of Maria.

 _What would you do?_

...

He bravely decided not to take the medicine that night and drifted off to sleep.

"Are you getting tired of me?"

It was a question Shadow couldn't simply answer straight away. So he stayed quiet as he watched the shores of the sea.

"You've... shut yourself away from me, I've noticed," she pressed on, a sad tone hinting at her words, "...I'm sorry."

"No," he said and looked at her, "It's my fault."

She blinked. He found it adorable. "How? I keep entering your dreams without permission..."

"And I left the doors open without shutting them," he held her hand and they walked to the shore, "...My feelings for you have always been the same."

He found her blushing at his words. "I-It's the same with me as well..." the echidna girl smiled and squeezed their hands together, "I'm always so excited to see you."

Shadow quickly looked away as his own face heated slightly.

Her hand gently brought his face back to her own and she enjoyed his flustered expression. She giggled again. The giggle that sounded like sweet music to his ears. "I hope to see you again in better circumstances..."

He stiffened. Now his heart was beating rapidly. "What... What are you saying?"

She kissed him. Shadow's breathing stopped. The sheer softness of her lips modded into his own perfectly. And peaches... she tasted like sweet peaches.

She pulled away as soon as he wanted to kiss her back. He was disappointed that it was so short and leaned in for another one. However, her index finger pressed against his lip. Shadow saw her smile again as she did so.

"Maybe another time..." the echidna stated and pulled away from his hold, "A time where you won't have to only see me in your dreams."

 _"Please don't-"_

"I promise we'll see each other again, Shadow."

Her tone was evident. And it made Shadow question when again was ever going to be.

This was a farewell.

"Your name," his voice managed to choke out. He could barely stand and his throat became dry. "I need to know your name."

The light was already beginning to take her. The ocean was fading. The sand became thinner and thinner.

He couldn't hear her but managed to follow her lip movements when she told him.

...

"Are you okay? You seem down."

Shadow looked towards Rouge before his eyes half-lidded. "I'm fine."

Rouge sighed. "I'm only asking because it didn't look like you've been giving it your all these past few missions. _Hell_ , I couldn't believe I had to save you in some parts."

He let out a scoff but he couldn't deny that she was telling the truth. "I've just had a lot on my mind."

"Don't we all," she said with a roll of her eyes but they gradually softened, "Look, if you need to talk about it, whatever the hell it is that's making you so gloomy, then you can tell me."

Shadow kept his eyes onto her and silence alluded across the table. He was sure his coffee was getting colder each minute that passed.

He broke his stoic composure and took one shaky breath. "Is it possible to fall in love with someone who only lived in your dreams?"

Rouge only stared back at him, analysing his features to make sure she heard him right. Shadow was never the one to lie. She'd known him too long and picked up his honest nature straight away. His eyes were serious but she could see the sorrow behind them.

The bat took some time to come up with the best answer, to order her words correctly. The hedgehog before her maybe the toughest but there was a hidden fragility in him that only she knew about. She didn't want to break that.

"I think it is, yes," Rouge answered, "That's the whole point of dreams, right? To imagine something great that's too good to happen in real life. It's suppose to almost feel like it exists," she looked down at her coffee and then gazed back up at him again, "Does she love you too?"

"Yes," Shadow whispered, his voice already heaving when he ran a hand down his face, "But she's gone."

"...Gone?"

He sniffed. That's right, _he sniffed._ When he set his eyes back onto his friend, the tears he was holding back for so long finally let loose. "I don't see her in them anymore."

It was the first time she'd seen him cry but she didn't seem fazed. Whoever this dream girl was, must've had him _hooked_ to make _Shadow the Hedgehog_ cry.

"What did she say to you?" Rouge asked quietly after some time.

Shadow swallowed. "She promised me we'll see each other again," he clenched his jaw, "But I don't know _when_."

"If it's a promise, then it's a _promise_ ," she reassured him softly, "You'll see her again. It may take weeks, months or _years_ but you _will_ see her again."

After some words of encouragement, Shadow nodded. "Thanks..."

Rouge smiled at him and pet his head. He hated it when she did that but this time was only an occasion. "You're welcome, lover boy," she winked at him before her watch beeped, "Looks like my little Knuckie needs help with a bunch of dweebs trying to steal the Master Emerald."

"Have fun."

"I'll try to," Rouge laughed as she picked up their mugs. She glanced at him carefully. "Try to take a break and go outside every now and then, okay? Give me a call if you need anything."

"I will... thanks again."

He watched her leave his office before stealing a look out his window. It became late in the evening. Perhaps a walk would do fine.

...

The breeze hit his quills just right and he sighed with content when he made it to the beach. A place he'd been avoiding ever since. He was lucky no one was here because it looked beautiful when deserted at night. Just seeing the full moon bright as it could ever be naturally lighting up the scenery.

It was difficult to almost breathe when his eyes landed onto the water. So he kept taking deep breaths to help him overcome the feeling.

The ghost feeling of her hand crept up onto his cheeks but the feeling disappeared as fast as it came. He then felt the sensation wrapping around his neck and his lips.

Shadow growled violently.

This was killing him. _This was slowly killing him._

What was he ever going to do?! It's been months, _months!_ And _nothing_ was progressing.

Was he going to live the rest of his life wishing upon someone who may take decades to see him?

Damn love. Damn those dreams. Damn him.

Damn her.

 _Damn. Her._

"Are you okay?"

He suddenly _choked_. And then his body froze. His stomach tensed up.

He wouldn't have come here if there was just one person lurking around, so who was...

Shadow quickly turned.

And he stumbled back, his eyes widening like saucers.

She smiled. "I think the water would feel better if you took your shoes off."

He suddenly stopped breathing, forgetting about the techniques he learned to calm himself down as he stared at the female before him.

He was still dreaming. He probably dozed against the sand because he must've been _still dreaming._

This was impossible. _Impossible._

She then looked concerned and reached forward. "Shadow...?"

"You're not real," Shadow said and pressed his hands against his head, gritting his teeth, "You're not real! You're not-!"

"Shadow..." the gentleness in her voice stopped his words completely as her hands touched his.

And he felt it. He _actually_ felt it.

He blinked a couple of times. Beating himself up in his mind to make sure he was awake and not asleep.

She gently pried his hands away from his face and cupped them with her own. "Shadow..." her soft comforting whispers breathed against his lips, "I'm here."

"You're not," his voice cracked the second time today, "I'm dreaming again."

"You're aren't," she giggled and her cheeks were staining with her newly formed tears, "I'm really here. I promised you, remember?"

"You'll disappear again."'

"I won't."

"You'll leave me."

"I won't."

"I'm dreaming."

 _"You're not."_

He crashed their lips together. His lips moved desperately, _deeply_... almost roughly. She kissed him back, catching up with his movements and letting out a few gasps when he pulled away for a second only to indulge her again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him even closer so that their bodies touched. His hands slithered down her waist again and he did the same thing.

Shadow pulled away and dived down her neck, peppering the kisses he always wanted to give her and the ones she _needed._ She kept giggling against his ear and it drove him wild that their footing loosened and he toppled over her as her back hit the sand.

He still kept kissing her neck and then made his way up to her lips again, taking full control. He wanted to feel them again. To make sure she was _there._ Her thighs straddled him from beneath and he placed one hand underneath a thigh as he continued his administrations.

He pulled away again, breathless. And she was too. He stared down at her now slightly swollen lip and then back up to her eyes.

They stayed like that for a moment or so, Shadow still dwelling in on everything.

The echidna smoothed out his quills as she smiled once more. "Let's walk along the water?"

He... smiled. "Okay."

When they stood up, Shadow laced their hands together before finally coming to terms with his next words. "I love you," he whispered, "Tikal..."

Her foreign name slipped so easily past his tongue.

Tikal's eyes glistened squeezed his hands. "I love you too, Shadow."


End file.
